Chinese Dairies Agree to Pay $160 Million to Tainted-Milk Victims

A group of Chinese dairy companies blamed for selling contaminated milk that killed six children and sickened nearly 300,000 others earlier this year has agreed to pay $160 million in compensation to the victims and their families.

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KV suspends tablet shipments, recalls painkiller

Beset by manufacturing problems and management controversy, KV Pharmaceutical Co. on Tuesday suspended shipment of the tablet form of its drugs. It also recalled a shipment of its painkiller hydromorphone because of a report of an oversized pill. It’s the fourth such drug recall in recent months.

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FDA warns against some diet pills sold on the Web

The government is warning you to stay away from nearly 30 weight-loss products that contain unlisted and possibly dangerous ingredients. The pills are advertised as “natural” fat busters and have intriguing names like Imelda Perfect Slim and Zhen de Shou. Some suggest they are innovative “herbal” remedies from Asia. But the Food and Drug Administration on Monday said the concoctions contain unlisted ingredients, including powerful appetite-suppressing drugs and a suspected carcinogen.

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FDA Warns of Risky Weight Loss Pills

The FDA today warned consumers not to buy or use more than 25 products marketed for weight loss because they contain undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients that may be risky. Some of the weight loss products that the FDA is warning about claim to be “natural” or to contain only “herbal” ingredients. But FDA tests found that the some of the products contained undeclared ingredients  which far exceeded the FDA-recommended levels, posing a health risk.

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FDA Wants New Diabetes Drugs Tested for Heart Risks

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is now asking all companies looking for approval of new type 2 diabetes medications to undertake studies that determine whether they cause cardiovascular problems. This new guidance document, announced Wednesday, comes on the heels of reports that two commonly prescribed blood sugar-lowering drugs already on the market, Avandia and Actos, increase the risk of heart failure and, in the case of Avandia, increase the risk of heart attack.

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FDA Adds Suicide Warning to Epilepsy Drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it was adding a label warning on heightened suicide risk for users of antiepileptic drugs. The move, which follows the advice last summer of an FDA advisory panel, stops short of slapping the strongest “black box” warning on this class of drugs, which includes widely used medications such as clonazepam (Klonopin), phenytoin (Dilantin) and topiramate (Topamax).

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C.B. Fleet Voluntarily Recalls Its Fleet Phospho-soda Products After FDA Safety Alert

Following the issuance of FDA’s Safety Alert on Thursday stating that oral sodium phosphates bowel cleansing solutions should be available by prescription only, C.B. Fleet Company immediately announced a voluntary recall of their over-the-counter products Fleet Phospho-soda and Fleet Phospho-soda EZ-Prep Bowel Cleansing System.

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FDA Puts Black-Box Warning on Bowel-Cleansing Drugs

Two prescription drugs used to cleanse the bowel before a colonoscopy may cause kidney damage, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday. The FDA said it would now require a black-box warning on the oral sodium phosphate products Visicol and OsmoPrep, alerting consumers about the risk of acute phosphate nephropathy — a type of severe kidney injury.

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Balanced Health Products, Inc. Expands Voluntary Urgent Nationwide Recall of Starcaps Dietary Supplement Capsules

Balanced Health Products, Inc. has expanded its voluntarily recall of Starcaps Diet System Dietary Supplement. The recall is effective immediately and is being undertaken because these lots of Starcaps contain an undeclared drug ingredient–Bumetanide–a diuretic available by prescription only. Potential risks associated with the use of Bumetanide include serious and significant fluid and electrolyte loss and an elevation in uric acid concentrations.

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Walgreens Recalls 173 Teddy Bears With Chocolate Bars Sold Since Late September 2008

Walgreens is recalling 173 teddy bears with chocolate bars sold in stores since late September 2008. Analysis by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that certain samples of the chocolate provided with the teddy bears were contaminated with melamine.

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