FDA & Prescription Drugs

• Recalled Digitek Digoxin Tablets Could Affect Many with Heart Failure and Atrial Fibrillation

  Margaret Embry | April 30, 2009 11:59 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Digoxin is a drug used to treat congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation by making the heart beat stronger and with a more regular rhythm. To understand the importance this drug plays in those who suffer from the above mentioned conditions...

• FDA shows caution in evaluating new heart drug, delays report

  Wendi Lewis | September 29, 2008 5:31 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Could the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) finally be showing caution in its evaluation of potential new medications? After being thrashed by the media and the public in recent months for...

• FDA begins posting list of drugs with potential safety issues on its web site

  Wendi Lewis | September 08, 2008 4:42 PM | 2 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  A list of prescription drugs currently under investigation by the FDA for safety issues is now available online. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began posting the list on its web site in...

• Vytorin and cancer: real threat?

  Tom Methvin | September 03, 2008 5:35 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Vytorin, manufactured by Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough was introduced as the newest weapon in the fight against “bad” cholesterol. But last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration dealt...

• Physicians say litigation helps ensure drug safety

  Wendi Lewis | August 18, 2008 10:27 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Attorneys who take on the pharmaceutical industry as a voice for consumers injured by medications found an unlikely ally this week, in doctors. Noting that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration is often "overwhelmed" by drug safety problems ranging from serious side effects to unsafe manufacturing facilities, editors of the New England Journal of Medicine said patients benefit from information uncovered by attorneys during liability investigations, according to an Associated Press report released Friday.

• Statins Work As Well As Vytorin

  Shannon Weidemann | March 30, 2008 7:22 PM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  A new study just released has confirmed that Vytorin does not lower the risk of heart disease. Vytorin is a combination of a statin and a cholesterol lowering drug. The Enhance study showed that while Vytorin lowered cholesterol, it did not reduce plaque in arteries.Doctors had embraced the drug because it does such a great job of lowering low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, the so-called bad...

• Class I Recall on Medtronic Drug Pump

  Shannon Weidemann | March 20, 2008 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Medtronic warned doctors in January of an increase in inflammatory masses around their implantable infusion pumps. The warnings involved the SynchroMed and IsoMed infusion pumps. They deliver medications to patients. The FDA has now said that makes it a Class I recall. The Food and Drug Administration defines a Class I recall as a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that use...

• Contamination Found in Recalled Heparin

  Shannon Weidemann | March 07, 2008 8:59 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Researchers have found a contaminent in samples of recalled Heparin that are chemically similar to the drug but may explain the adverse reactions that have been reported. The FDA is unsure how the contaminant got into the Heparin. Initial testing did not reveal the contamination due to the similarity. High-tech testing by Baxter and other groups uncovered a heparin-like compound in batches of...

• China States Importing Countries Responsible for Drug Safety

  Shannon Weidemann | February 27, 2008 8:59 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  The agency responsible for drug safety in China has stated that it is the responsiblity of importing countries and companies to inspect and certify drugs are safe. The statement follows a recall by Baxter for the blood-thinning drug heparin. Four people have died and there have been hundreds of reports of adverse reactions following the use of the drug. "We attach high importance to this,"...

• Lipitor Ads with Dr. Jarvik Pulled

  Shannon Weidemann | February 25, 2008 9:37 AM | 0 CommentsMontgomery, AL

  Pfizer made the decision today to pull drug ads for Lipitor with Dr. Robert Jarvik. Dr. Jarvik does not hold a medical license and there was some controversy over his use in the Lipitor drug ad. The ads have appeared on tv and in print since 2006. Dr. Jarvik invented the artificial heart. He does have a medical degree but is not licensed to practice medicine. But House Democrats said the...