Category: A.M. Vitals: FDA Warns of Fake Avastin in U.S.

MEwens
Fake Avastin in the U.S.: A counterfeit version of Roche’s Avastin anti-cancer drug has been found in the U.S., though it’s not known how much was distributed, whether patients received it or whether it caused harm, the WSJ reports. The FDA has notified 19 medical practices in the U.S. that it says might […]

MEwens
Federal regulators have been firm in saying that they will stick to the October 1, 2013 deadline for the rollout of the new medical coding set known as ICD-10. Now there’s a slightly different message emerging: OK, maybe not.
Today the acting head of the Medicare agency, Marilyn Tavenner, said the Centers for Medicare […]

Betsy McKay
Contraception Compromise?: The Obama administration is looking for possible compromises on a policy that requires most religious employers to offer health plans that cover the cost of contraception for their workers, the WSJ reports, citing people familiar with the discussions. One possible model: Hawaii, where employees of religious organizations can enroll in […]

MEwens
Social Media and Funding Brouhaha: Social media helped galvanize supporters of Planned Parenthood last week after Susan G. Komen for the Cure said it would cut off funding for the women’s health nonprofit — and then reversed its stance, the WSJ reports. According to social-media monitor NetBase Solutions, Komen-related chatter rose 80% from […]

MEwens
By Louise Radnofsky
The Obama administration is touting good news for seniors from the health-care overhaul law, pointing to $2.1 billion in discounts on prescription drugs for 3.6 million older consumers in 2011.
Part of the law was intended to fill the gap in prescription-drug coverage, the so-called doughnut hole, when Medicare beneficiaries have to […]

Laura Landro
Gut Brain: The health of the gut is tied to more than digestion, with links to processes and conditions including bone formation, learning and memory, Parkinson’s disease and, in lab rats, depression and anxiety, the WSJ reports. Researchers call the enteric nervous system the “gut brain” and note that about 95% of […]

MEwens
Orange Juice Worries: Coca-Cola said it found an unapproved fungicide in some of it and its competitors’ orange juice imported from Brazil, though it wouldn’t identify the brands, the WSJ reports. Coke makes Simply Orange and Minute Maid.  The FDA is testing OJ from supermarket shelves for the fungicide, but the EPA said […]

MEwens
The future of the health-care overhaul law hinges on a decision by the Supreme Court in 2012; the court will hear a case challenging the law’s constitutionality over three days starting March 26, with a decision expected by the end of June. Meantime, though, more provisions of the law are due to […]

MEwens
Formula Comes Up Clean: Mead Johnson Nutrition said Sunday that fresh tests on its Enfamil Premium Newborn formula, a batch of which was pulled from the shelves of retailers including Wal-Mart, Walgreen and Kroger, have turned up no traces of a bacteria implicated in the death of a 10-day-old infant, the WSJ reports. […]

MEwens
Focus on Formula: Wal-Mart and Supervalu have removed certain containers of Mead Johnson Nutrition’s Enfamil infant formula from their store shelves following the death of a Missouri infant from a rare bacterial infection, the WSJ reports. The FDA is testing the formula for the presence of the Cronobacter sakazakii bacteria that killed the […]