By Elise Craig on September 8, 2010
Two makers of green tea beverages have been warned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration not to make unauthorized claims about nutrients in their products. The action reflects a continuing clampdown by the agency on misleading food labels, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The agency criticized the Dr Pepper Snapple Group for claiming ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes
By Elise Craig on September 3, 2010
Egg graders from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were regularly on site at two Iowa farms linked to the national salmonella outbreak but failed to enforce rules against the presence of disease-spreading rodents and other vermin, USA Today reports.
USDA employees inspected the size and quality of eggs at Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms at least 40 ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes
By Elise Craig on September 2, 2010
Doctors are increasingly prescribing antipsychotic drugs to treat young children, even infants, for conditions that some psychiatric experts say rarely warrant such strong treatment, The New York Times reports.
More than 500,000 young children and adolescents take antipsychotic medication, according to a 2009 study by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In another study, researchers at Columbia ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
By Elise Craig on September 1, 2010
Botox maker Allergan Inc. agreed to pay $600 million and plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge to settle a federal investigation of its marketing practices, AFP reports.
The company will pay the government $375 million for illegally marketing Botox to treat headaches, pain, muscle stiffness, and juvenile cerebral palsy between 2000 and 2005. None of those uses ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
By Elise Craig on September 1, 2010
Robitussin and Tylenol Cough could eventually go the way of nasal decongestants — behind the pharmacist’s counter. Increasing signs of abuse and injuries among adolescents have prompted U.S. regulators to consider dispensing restrictions for the over-the-counter cough syrups, Bloomberg reports.
Non-medical use of dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant that has been on the market since 1958, led ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes, Pharmaceutical Industry
By Lea Yu on August 31, 2010
Federal authorities have found widespread food safety violations at the Iowa egg farms linked to the nation’s salmonella outbreak, discovering manure in piles up to 8 feet high, rodents, uncaged birds, rusty feed bins, maggots and dead flies “too numerous to count.”
CNN reports that the findings were disclosed in Food and Drug Administration inspection ... Read more »
Posted in Food and Drug Safety, News & Notes
