Lots of people take dietary supplements. Unfortunately, they are not all that their producers claim. A previous post notified readers of FDA warnings to dietary supplement producers. Today another dietary supplement warning has come out and it is especially pertinent as so many of us are experiencing sadness and depression due to social distancing and the...
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FDA Recalls
You may not realize it but your diabetes medication, metformin extended release, has been recalled. One of the places to look for information on recalls of medications is the Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts page on the FDA website. The recall, on May 28, is for Metformin Hydrochloride Extended-Release Tablets, USP 500mg by a...
Read MoreNo Salt, Please
A recent commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine describes what is really happening with the US food supply. In 2010, a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM–now called the National Academy of Medicine) stated that, salt intake is actually a factor that is out of our personal control. This is because only 5% of sodium is coming from the...
Read MoreDietary Supplements and Homeopathy Are Not Tested for Safety and Effectiveness
On October 30, 2018, the FDA sent a letter to the American Botanical Pharmacy and “Dr.” Richard Schulze – whose “doctorate is in herbology”- stating, Based on the review of your firm’s website…we have identified serious violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act) and applicable regulations.”1 Yet on...
Read MoreRight To Try: Needed Legislation or Snake Oil?
Thirty-eight states in the US have passed “Right To Try” laws. These are laws that are created to give terminally ill patients who have run out of options access to experimental drugs that have not completed the FDA approval process. There is an effort underway to pass this type of legislation on a federal level. On February 8, the #LCSM (Lung...
Read MoreFDA News Releases and Signing Up for Alerts
You may not know this but you can get warnings from the FDA on problems with prescription medications and over-the-counter drugs. For example, on August 11, a FDA News Release issued this warning about over-the-counter liquid vitamins that are given to young children and those who cannot swallow pills. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is...
Read MoreWhat Do You Think About Clinical Trials?
Please take this short survey on Clinical Trials…then read on! Surveys on Perceptions of Clinical Trials If you are like most people, you may not have a very positive opinion of clinical trials. At least that is what a recent survey conducted by MaPS/Millward Brown Analytic and Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSKCC) suggests. Only 40% of those...
Read MoreCancer Research and Money: Financing Hope
Cancer Research and Money Funding has been stagnant for years– that’s what the fact sheet of the National Cancer Institute says. This is the federal agency charged with finding a cure for cancer through research. The $4.9 billion per year is spread across a spectrum of cancer investigations, each cancer getting a designated amount. What if this...
Read MoreMeat Packers and Patent Medicines: Welcome to Life before the FDA
Reviewing history fascinates, educates and can really make you appreciate. That’s what happens when reading about life in the 1800s and early 1900s. Mystery Meat? In 1904, the meat packer’s union in Chicago went on strike. At the time four companies ruled the meat-packing world. To end the strike, the companies brought in replacement workers. ...
Read MoreJury Duty? Understanding Clinical Trials
Not with these trials. Clinical trials are scientific studies conducted to discover improved ways to treat, prevent, diagnose or screen for diseases. Clinical trials are either observational or interventional. Observational trials are like longitudinal studies. Interventional trials are the ones in which individuals are assigned to control or...
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