The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Wednesday approved the single-dose intravenous drug named Orvactiv™ (Oritavancin)developed by The Medicines Company for treating severe bacterial skin infections. This is FDA's third approval this year for the same condition. Pharmaceutical companies have to continuously invent new therapies to battle with bacterial infections as patients develop resistance to existing antibiotics. The three drugs target acute bacterial skin and skin … [Read more...]
Blended honey is not honey, says FDA
April 10, 2022 By
Honey blended with sugar may be sweet, but it cannot be ‘honey’. Stating this, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced new rules Tuesday that directed food companies and other producers to label any honey that is not pure, or even blended with sweeteners like sugar or corn syrup. FDA posted Tuesday its draft guidelines on pure or blended honey online. It further directed that only producers who do not add corn syrup, sugar or other sweeteners will be permitted to label their … [Read more...]
After Two Decades, Nutrition Labels Will Change
March 1, 2022 By
For the first time in two decades, the labels that grace every packaged or processed food that moves from a supermarket to a family’s table, pantry and freezer are getting a makeover. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration outlined some of the proposed changes in a Feb. 27 news release. Those changes include the following: Updated serving sizes to reflect what consumers typically eat now. Serving sizes have not changed since 1994, although the way people eat and what they eat has … [Read more...]
Is Antibacterial Soap All Hype?
December 19, 2021 By
The warnings were clear. Washing your hands multiple times a day is supposed to protect you from communicable diseases, and certainly if soap works then antibacterial soap should work even better. Right? Unfortunately this might not always be the case according to the Food and Drug Administration. This month the agency announced that it is reviewing some Antibacterial soap products due to doubts over the manufacturer’s advertised claims. Even worse, the agency believes that some of these … [Read more...]
Everything You Need to Know About Pertussis
November 29, 2021 By
Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, may be making a comeback. Once thought to be one of the childhood diseases that we’ve kept at bay through vaccines, pertussis may be on the way to causing a serious public health problem. This week, the US Food and Drug Administration published a study to look more closely at the pertussis vaccine. The study looked mainly at the effects of the pertussis vaccine in the context of rising occurrences of the disease, with the highest number of infections … [Read more...]
10 High Trans Fat Foods to Avoid
November 11, 2021 By
Last week the FDA changed its stance on trans-fats and hydrogenated oils, they are no longer “generally considered as safe.” This may have an impact on many processed foods and restaurants still using hydrogenated oils to prepare food. Trans-fats are essentially trans fatty acids. These are created during the hydrogenation process; when hydrogen is added to unsaturated vegetable oils. This process turns the oil into solid or semi-solid fats. This is done for many reasons, but one of the … [Read more...]
FDA Approves New Drug to Treat Hot Flashes
July 12, 2022 By
The FDA now approves the drug Brisdelle (paroxetine) for the treatment of hot flashes, a symptom of menopause in women. In announcing its approval, the FDA Press Release noted that Brisdelle becomes the first treatment without hormones available to women. The first of its kind. The sequence of drug testing proved Brisdelle effective, but the FDA noted in its report that the true mechanism by which Brisdelle reduces hot flashes is not known . According to New York Times reporter, Andrew … [Read more...]
