All lots of H&P Industries Povidine Iodine Prep Pads are being recalled for Elizabethkingia meningoseptica, which is associated with invasive meningitis. “Use of contaminated Povidine Prep Pads could lead to life-threatening infections,” said the FDA recall notice. If you have a first aid kid, you should check to see if any of these pads are in it and get rid of them. These pads can be identified by these names on their packages: [More]
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This Cigarette Ice Cream Truck Is Doing It Wrong
By 4.4.11
Pro tip: when you buy an old ice cream truck and turn it into a mobile cigarette dispensary, you should probably cover up all the old ads for Bombpops and Choco Tacos. Reader discounteggroll’s co-worker snapped this picture at a gas station on the NY-CT border in Greenwich, CT. (Perhaps the truck is parked on the CT side of the parking lot, to take advantage of CT’s lower cigarette tax?) If it doesn’t violate any regulations, like the Tobacco Control Act of 2009 which prohibits the sale, distribution, marketing and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children under the age of 18, it’s in poor taste, even with the sign asking for ID. “One Big Vanilla ice cream sandwich, please.” “Sorry kid, we got Pall Malls.” [More]
FDA Lets Pharmacies Compete Against Price Gouging Company Making Pregnancy Drug
By 4.1.11
Reacting to a pharmaceutical company’s seemingly greedy ploy to jack up a premature birth-preventing drug from $10-$20 to $1,500 after the Food and Drug Administration granted it exclusive rights to produce the drug, the FDA shifted course and will allow specialty pharmacies into the market. [More]
Help, The Price Of My Life-Saving Drug Went Up 2000%!
By 4.1.11
Colchicine, a drug primarily used to treat gout, is an old drug. Very old. Extracts from the plant it comes from, colchicum, have been used in gout treatment for thousands of years. In pill form as colchicine, it’s been on the market in the United States since the 19th century and predates the Food and Drug Administration. A few years ago, the company that makes one brand of the drug, Colcrys, obtained FDA approval for their version, and the exclusive rights to sell it in the United States for three years. Who cares? Reader Nick does. He works in retail, isn’t wealthy, and the colchicine he takes twice a day for a serious medical condition shot up in cost from about $20 per month to closer to $400. [More]
Radiation Found In US Milk Supply In Trace Amounts
By 3.31.11
Great, now kids have a new excuse for not drinking their milk: US milk samples from Spokane, Washington have tested positive for a radioactive iodine blown over from Japan, the EPA announced Wednesday. The amounts are small, only 0.8 pico-curies, according to tests taken March 25 by the agency, and are 5,000 times below the FDA’s “intervention level.” [More]
Even More "Toxic Waste" Candy Lives Up To Its Branding
By 3.28.11
In January, the people behind the Toxic Waste Nuclear Sludge candy bars announced a not-that-surprising recall for possible lead contamination. And in keeping with the company’s brand message, more candy has been recalled for the same reason. [More]
Food Dyes May Exacerbate Hyperactive Behavior In Some Kids
By 3.28.11
It has long been suspected that kids with ADHD might be having some sort of reaction to common synthetic food dyes — but now the FDA is going to formally consider any links between the dyes and hyperactivity in children, including over 30 different studies on the topic. [More]
Theater Owners Don't Want You To Know A Large Popcorn Is Like Eating 3 Big Macs
By 3.23.11
The FDA is reportedly set to announce a decision that would force movie theater operators to post calorie counts next to their items in the same way that restaurant chains must. Not surprisingly, the theater owners are popping mad about this possibility. [More]
Food From Four Japanese Prefectures Barred From Entering U.S.
By 3.23.11
Following the news that radiation has been detected in tap water and food products in areas closest to the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, the FDA has announced that many imported food products from prefectures near the plant will not be allowed to enter the U.S. [More]
FDA Panel Recommends Ban On Menthol Cigarettes
By 3.18.11
If you like your cigarettes minty fresh, you might want to start stocking up now. Earlier today an FDA panel announced that a ban on menthol smokes would be a good thing for the public health. [More]
Price Of Premature Birth-Preventing Drug Goes From $10 To $1,500 Per Dose
By 3.15.11
After the Food and Drug Administration granted KV Pharmaceuticals sole rights to produce progesterone, a drug that prevents premature births in mothers, the company has begun charging $1,500 per dose of a drug that formerly cost $10. [More]
Did You Know Doctors Are Prescribing Non-FDA-Approved Drugs? They Didn't Either.
By 3.2.11
Awhile back the FDA cracked down on OTC cold medicines that were potentially harmful to children under 2. As part of that effort, the agency has now “ordered the removal from the market of more than 500 prescription drugs used to treat colds, coughs and allergies because the medications had never gone through a federal review of their safety and effectiveness,” says the NYT Prescriptions Blog. [More]
American Beverage Association Responds To Call For Ban On Caramel Coloring In Cola
By 2.18.11
Earlier this week, the Center For Science In The Public Interest petitioned the FDA to ban two forms of caramel coloring, claiming that the ammonia and sulfites used in the creation of the products results in allegedly carcinogenic chemicals making their way into the resulting food and drink. Consumerist reached out to Coca-Cola and Pepsi to get their side of the story, but were instead passed on to the American Beverage Association, which offered its own version of things. [More]
FDA Approves Lap-Band Surgery For Not-As-Obese Patients
By 2.17.11
The folks at Allergan, the company behind the popular Lap-Band weight loss surgery, have 26 million reasons to cheer today. After all, that’s the number of potential new Lap-Band patients now that the FDA has lowered the minimum weight loss requirements for the procedure. [More]
CSPI Asks FDA To Ban Caramel Coloring Used In Coke, Pepsi And Other Stuff You Like
By 2.17.11
Yesterday, the folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest sent a petition to the Food & Drug Administration, demanding that the “caramel coloring” commonly used in sodas like Coke and Pepsi be banned because they claim it contains a pair of carcinogenic chemicals. [More]
Fast Food Calorie Counts Don't Stop Kids From Overeating, Either
By 2.15.11
A provision in last year’s federal health care reform bill requires all food-serving establishments with more than 20 outlets to post the calorie count of every item on the menu so customers know exactly what they’re getting themselves into. The FDA is taking nationwide an idea that some cities and counties had already put in place. It seems like a good idea in theory, but studies show that calorie counts on menus just make people say “ah, screw it” and order the same amount of food that they would have without the calorie posting–or more. A new study in this month’s International Journal of Obesity shows that children, too, fall into the same delicious caloric trap. [More]
HCG Diet Products Are Fraud, Says FDA
By 1.24.11
There are tons of diet pill pages on the internet prosthelytizing the wonders of the miracle diet drug HCG, or “human chorionic gonadotropin.” You have the usual “before” and “after” pictures where you get to play that fun game of trying to figure out if they’re actually two different people, and the promises of losing 30 pounds in 4 weeks. Only problem is that HCG doesn’t work for weight loss, and an FDA exec says they may even be illegal and fraudulent. Quelle surprise! [More]
FDA Asks Prescription Drug Companies To Limit Amount Of Acetaminophen
By 1.13.11
Worried about the possibility of liver damage from over use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked manufacturers of prescription drugs containing acetaminophen to limit the amount of acetaminophen to no more than 325 mg in each tablet or capsule. [More]
