The Food and Drug Administration has launched a Web page for consumers with information on how to dispose of certain drugs, including several high-potency opioids and other selected controlled substances. These medicines have the potential to be harmful, even deadly, in a single dose if taken by someone other than the intended person.
The Department of Justice, on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration, has filed a complaint for permanent injunction against Rel's Foods Inc. (Rel's), of Oakland, Calif., seeking to stop the company from manufacturing, producing, and selling adulterated food products.
"This rule is a significant step forward in protecting people’s health when they travel," said Peter S. Silva, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Water.
Most of that sum is the result of the company’s failure to correct seven violations identified during a previous inspection that focused on the firm’s lack of an energy control program to ensure machinery would not start up at inopportune times.
The Food and Drug Administration recently ordered manufacturers of certain types of pedicle screw systems, called dynamic stabilization systems, to conduct postmarket surveillance studies to collect clinical data on a number of potential safety issues, including fusion rates and frequency of additional surgeries.
Department of Agriculture's fresh produce chief will join the Food and Drug Administration to help develop new food safety rules, as part of a cooperative initiative between the two agencies. The announcement comes amid beefed up outreach efforts with key agriculture and safe food stakeholders to better share and exchange produce safety "best practices" and ideas.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued its Strategic Plan for Risk Communication, which outlines the agency's efforts to disseminate more meaningful public health information.
Lax housekeeping and equipment that was inadequately designed and maintained allowed the buildup of sugar dust that exploded in February 2008, the board's final draft report concludes. Georgia's two U.S. senators today joined in backing OSHA's plan to issue a combustible dust standard.
Vaccines against three seasonal virus strains are already available and should be used, FDA said. However, they do not protect against the 2009 H1N1 virus. These latest four vaccines are designed to do that.
The agriculture and health ministers announced Friday the addition of 166 new food safety staffers, 24/7 availability of health risk assessment teams, and improved tracking of food illnesses through a national surveillance system.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the co-chairs of the Obama Administration's Food Safety Working Group, have unveiled a new consumer Web site today at www.foodsafety.gov. The site is designed to help consumers and families get all the latest information on food safety and food recalls in one convenient place.
As a way to head off potential cases of foodborne illness, the Reportable Food Registry is what food industry officials must use to alert FDA quickly when they find their products might sicken or kill people or animals.
The Georgia-based company has been cited for having no written procedures for formaldehyde process equipment, engineering controls not implemented for overexposure to dust, and exposing employees to dust two-and-a-half to 20 times the permissible exposure limit, among other violations.
The agency's inspection found that the facility, which uses large amounts of anhydrous ammonia in its refrigeration system, had not conducted a proper evaluation of hazards and that standard operating procedures were either incomplete or had not been developed for all system activities, among other things.
The February 2008 explosion and fire at the Imperial Sugar refinery in Georgia sparked attention and concern about combustible dusts. The company's computer-based training teaches workers about dust, food safety, emergency preparedness, and heat stress.
Consumers who have used the drug, marketed as Xenical and the over-the-counter medication Alli, should consult a health care professional if they experience symptoms possibly associated with development of liver injury, particularly weakness or fatigue, fever, jaundice, or brown urine, the agency says. Other symptoms may include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, light-colored stools, itching, or loss of appetite.
“Both proposed rules will improve the agency’s ability to obtain safety information more quickly, which will help lead to faster identification of potential safety problems,” said David Buckles, Ph.D., director of the Division of Postmarket Surveillance at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
The complaint alleges, among other things, that untreated sewage has flowed into residential yards, basements, streams, and the Tug Fork River.
The center will oversee the implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act signed by President Obama in June 2009.
The Food and Drug Administration has published two rules that seek to clarify the methods available to seriously ill patients interested in gaining access to investigational drugs and biologics when they are not eligible to participate in a clinical trial and don't have other satisfactory treatment options.