The following is from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration:   Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA Important safety changes to the labeling for some widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are being announced today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These products, when used with diet and exercise, help to lower a person’s “bad”...
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 Novartis Consumer Health Inc. is voluntarily recalling all lots of over-the-counter products Exedrin, Bufferin, Gas-X Prevention and NoDoz. Reports were received of chipped and broken pills and inconsistent bottle packaging clearance practices at the Lincoln, Nebraska facility, which could result in the bottles containing foreign tablets, caplets, or capsules. Mixing of different products in...
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CEDAR RAPIDS- President Obama signed an executive order on Monday designed to help reduce a growing number of prescription drug shortages.  But hospital pharmacy directors at both Cedar Rapids hospitals said it may take many months for that order to improve the current shortage situation. The President’s order to the Food and Drug Administration...
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On June 14, 2011 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new requirements for sunscreens currently sold over-the-counter.  According to the FDA, the requirements support the Agency’s ongoing efforts to ensure that sunscreens meet modern-day standards for safety and effectiveness. The new requirements, as well as several proposed changes for future rules, are...
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  CEDAR RAPIDS – Kim Roessler has two sons, ages 11 and 7, who take prescribed medications on a daily basis.  Yet, late last month, she went in for a refill on Adderall for one son. “I couldn’t believe I was hearing that they didn’t have any medication at all,” Roessler said of the...
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UPDATED: 4:50 P.M. IOWA CITY — A nationwide study that included University of Iowa researchers shows two drugs are equally successful at reversing an eye disease that, left untreated, causes blindness. Age-related macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in older Americans, with 250,000 patients treated annually. The first year...
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The FDA issued a statement today about benzocaine products,  marketed under different brand names such as Hurricaine, Cetacaine, Exactacain, and Topex.   ISSUE: FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients that FDA continues to receive reports of methemoglobinemia, a serious and potentially fatal adverse effect, associated with benzocaine products both as a spray, used during medical...
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The Skin Cancer Foundation sent the following: On Friday, March 25, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a breakthrough melanoma treatment called ipilimumab. Not only is this the first melanoma drug to receive FDA approval in 13 years, but it’s the first therapy proven to extend overall survival for advanced stage melanoma patients....
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The Food and Drug Administration on March 24, 2011, approved the use of Zostavax, a live attenuated virus vaccine, for the prevention of shingles in individuals 50 to 59 years of age. Zostavax is already approved for use in individuals 60 years of age and older.  In the United States shingles affects approximately 200,000 healthy...
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is monitoring  the safety of imported products with radiation screening of shipments from Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has ordered a stop to the sale of raw milk, spinach and kakina from  Fukushima prefecture, and of spinach and kakina from Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures....
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