AMES, Iowa — A microbiologist with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been named the next director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. Mark Rasmussen, supervisory microbiologist and director of the Division of Animal and Food Microbiology at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine in Laurel, Maryland, will...
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The following is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: The scary eyeball Listen to TipInterested? Take the Next Step Just in time for Halloween: Vampire eyes. Blood red demon eyes. And they’re contact lenses – just for show, not necessarily to correct vision. But at the National Eye Institute, Dr. Rachel...
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The tobacco industry has displayed a history of targeting youth through their marketing campaigns. Common tobacco marketing strategies include point-of-sale advertisements, coupons, direct mailings and price discounting. Several published studies have evaluated the relationship between tobacco advertising and a youth’s decision to use tobacco. The Journal of Marketing found that youth are three times...
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The following is from the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA): This week, the federal government is releasing the final version of long-awaited transparency rules to disclose the financial ties between medical researchers who receive billions of dollars in federal funding and the pharmaceutical industry.  On Aug. 4, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa urged...
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WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin today released a report showing the need for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enhance its assessment of recalls of medical devices to better mitigate the risk of serious health consequences from defective or unsafe devices.                  “The gist of...
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Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin wrote to the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to a new report showing that 88 percent of the powerful antipsychotic drugs being prescribed to nursing home residents with dementia were for uses that have not been approved...
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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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Unilever Announces Recall of Skippy® Reduced Fat Peanut Butter Spread Due to Possible Health Risk Limited Recall of 6 Best-If-Used-By Dates FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 4, 2011, Englewood Cliffs, NJ – Unilever United States, Inc. today announced a limited recall of Skippy® Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread and Skippy® Reduced Fat Super...
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FDA: U.S. Marshals seize food products at Tennessee company FDA acts to prevent distribution of food from rodent-infested facility U.S. Marshals on Feb. 24, 2011, seized about $200,000 worth of food products from Bedford Cheese Store Inc. in Shelbyville, Tenn., after U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigators found evidence of rodents throughout the company’s...
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