Peggy Peck

January 05, 2007

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA approved a diet drug today that it wants no one to even consider taking. Slentrol (dirlotapide), is an obesity agent for dogs, with nasty side effects if humans try it.

January 04, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it fined four makers of over-the-counter weight-loss products more than million for false advertising, including a .2 million civil penalty against Bayer for claims made for One-A-Day Weight Smart.

January 03, 2007

SAN ANTONIO -- Among the major breast cancer events of 2006, there was a report of a dramatic drop in the annual incidence, evidence that an osteoporosis drug may prevent invasive disease, and encouraging reports about an investigational therapy.

December 29, 2006

MONTREAL -- Early reports about promising investigational compounds and new insights into the effect of diet on the gut were highlights in gastroenterology during the year.

December 28, 2006

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Meat and milk from the offspring of cloned cattle, pigs, and goats may soon find its way to American dinner tables, with the FDA's blessing.

December 27, 2006

SAN DIEGO -- The editor-in-chief at the Journal of the American College of Cardiology confirmed today that an editorial on drug-eluting stents in the Jan. 2 issue contains a significant error.

December 20, 2006

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA today approved Olympic Cool-Cap, a device that cools the head to prevent damage caused by neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a condition that affects 5,000 to 9,000 newborns each year.

December 20, 2006

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- The FDA today approved Invega (paliperidone) for treatment of acute schizophrenia.

December 19, 2006

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Two patients treated with the immune modulator Rituxan (rituximab) for systemic lupus erythmatosus have died of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), the FDA warned physicians.

December 15, 2006

ROCKVILLE, Md. -- Two FDA advisory committees agreed today that the antibiotic Ketek (telithromycin) should be limited to second-line therapy for community-acquired pneumonia, and that the drug should have black box warning added to its label.