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Merck Receives FDA Warning to Fix Manufacturing Deficiencies


Numerous manufacturing deficiencies sited at its West Point, PA, plant are the target of a recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Warning Letter recently delivered to Merck & Company, Inc. The 9-page FDA letter said inspectors found “significant objectionable condi­tions” in the manufacture of vaccines and drug ingredients. This is the same plant where [...]

Failure to Act on Painkiller Petition Puts FDA Under Fire in New Lawsuit


A suit has been brought against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for violating the law in not acting on a petition in a timely manner.
Two years ago, Public Citizen sued the FDA to withdraw the painkillers Darvon® and Darvocet® from the market and the FDA has not acted on this petition. According to [...]

7,000 Trips Annually to Emergency Rooms for Children Taking Cough and Cold Meds


If there is any question about cough and cold medicines being completely safe for chil­dren, well consider this. Annually, about 7,000 children ages 11 and younger require a hospital emergency room visit because of an adverse reaction to one of these substances.
This figure comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To [...]

Gardasil Deaths, Adverse Reactions Should Get Young Women to Think Twice!


The fast-track approach to getting the cervical cancer protection drug Gardasil® through the approval process may be on its way to haunting both the drug maker Merck & Co., and the approving agency, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It was recently revealed that at least 18 women have died in the past 2 [...]

FDA Approves Cancer-Causing Drug for Over-the-Counter Use


The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a potentially carcinogenic drug as an over-the-counter (OTC) weight loss aid for overweight adults. Orlistat was initially approved in 1999 as a prescription drug to treat obesity, and it remains a prescription drug for obesity at a higher dose than the OTC version.
Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, Director [...]

Selective Reporting of Drug Trials Exaggerates Effectiveness of Antidepressants


What many people have been suspecting all along with regards to the accurate reporting of drug testing was brought to light in the January issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Drug companies have been engaging in selective reporting of antidepressant drug trials and, by doing so, have been exaggerating the effectiveness of these [...]