Food and Drug Administration News

Troubling Questions Follow Closure of Sprawling Pain Clinic Chain

HANFORD, Calif. — On May 13 of last year, the cellphones of thousands of California residents undergoing treatment for chronic pain lit up with a terse text message: “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Lags Medical Centers will be closing effective May …

J&J Kept Quiet on Popular Diabetes Drug as Red Flags Multiplied

RARITAN, New Jersey–Gathered for an emergency meeting, the Johnson & Johnson drug safety team painted an alarming scene: People taking the company’s new blockbuster diabetes drug were falling gravely ill. The drug, Invokana, had been on the market less than …

Philips Investigates Number of Complaints in FDA Ventilator Report

AMSTERDAM — Dutch medical equipment maker Philips on Wednesday said U.S. regulators might have overestimated the number of safety issues raised by customers related to its recall of ventilators in which a potentially hazardous foam was used. The U.S. Food …

Opioid Trial Against CVS, Walgreens, Walmart Winding Down

CLEVELAND (AP) — Three retail pharmacy chains failed to follow government guidelines to make sure pain pills weren’t flooding Ohio communities, said an attorney for two counties that brought a federal lawsuit to hold the companies accountable for the opioid …

COVID-19 Vaccine Approval is ‘Seismic’ Shift For Legality Of Mandates, Experts Say

Formal U.S approval of the Pfizer Inc /BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine will make it nearly impossible to successfully challenge mandates by employers, legal experts said. The decision by the Food and Drug Administration to give full approval to the vaccine …

Sunscreen Concerns Escalate as Another Potential Carcinogen Found

Researchers asked U.S. regulators to pull some sunscreens from the market, including brands such as Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena, saying they’ve found evidence of a potential carcinogen. Scientists petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to remove from sale all …

Judge Tosses Houston Hospital Workers’ Lawsuit Over Vaccine Requirement

A U.S. federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by 117 workers at a Texas hospital over its requirement that they be vaccinated against COVID-19. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes upheld Houston Methodist Hospital’s policy mandating employees be vaccinated, in …

Bristol-Myers Is Sued for $6.4 Billion Over Delayed Cancer Drug

NEW YORK — Bristol Myers Squibb Co was sued for $6.4 billion on Thursday for allegedly delaying its Breyanzi cancer drug to avoid payments to shareholders of the former Celgene Corp, which the drugmaker bought in 2019. According to a …

Florida Company Creates COVID-19-Killing Ultra-Violet Light

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Energy Harness CEO/inventor/engineer Michael Fischer and senior vice president Peter Lehrer were approached with a problem from a client about a year ago. They began brainstorming ways to solve it. With COVID-19 bringing the office …

Viewpoint: Psychedelic Drugs to Treat Pain in Workers’ Compensation Cases?

Medical science has moved forward by leaps and bounds in recent years, and yet for too many injured workers, their initial work-related injury and subsequent medical treatment is only the start of an all-too-familiar downward spiral that often ends in …