Yep, Merck has FDA approval for it's new drug VICTRELIS. It is not a stand alone use, BUT it is the one and only approved drug for chronic Hepatitis C virus in the last 10 years!
Apparently the glucose test strips produce inaccurate results because they do not absorb enough blood. This recall does not pertain to Abbott Diabetes Care additional products. As many as 359 million test strips could fall under this FDA mandated recall. Read more for the brand names.
American Red Cross has been fined $16,000,000. No reports of patient problems have been reported to date. The American Red Cross is one of several that supply blood to the national public.
Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, LLC (owned by Johnson & Johnson) plead guilty in court for its part in illegally promoting Topamax, a drug developed for epilepsy which was never approved by the FDA. They were fined $6.14 Million. An Affiliate of the company, Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will also pay $75.37 million!
Medical Mile reports Baxter Healthcare has been ordered to Recall and Destroy all its Colleague Volumetric Infusion Pumps. Infusion pumps are devices that deliver fluids, including nutri- ents and medications, into a patient’s body in a controlled manner. They are widely used in hospitals, other clinical settings and, increasingly, in the home because they allow a greater level of accuracy in fluid delivery.
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Those Metered Dose Inhalers (MDI's) will be gradually phased out from distribution, some as early as this June 14, 2010, because of the CFC's they contain. CFC's (ChloroFluoroCarbons) as they are known, are the vehicle used to push the medication into the lungs as one inhales. Which 7 MDI products will be deleted?
Warning: FDA orders the marketing of two unapproved Nitroglycerin Tablets stopped! Nitroglycerin tablets, commonly used to relieve chest pain most typically due to heart aliment's, are administered by placing them under the tongue.
At this point, you just might be asking yourself "are my nitro tablets okay?"
Many travelers are expected to visit Asia in the upcoming weeks to celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Tiger. Lunar New Year falls on February 14, 2010. If you are traveling, the Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) would like to share information and tips that will help you stay healthy and enjoy your trip.
Every destination, even in different areas of the same country, has unique health issues that travelers need to be aware of. To find specific information about the areas you plan to visit, see the East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia regional pages on the CDC Travelers’ Health website, or click on the country or countries you will be visiting on the destinations page.
Parliamentarian breaks rules to squelch GOP stall tactic
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As even more new language continues to pile up in Sen. Harry Reid's massive manager's amendment to the health care bill, which is being constructed behind closed doors, the leader of the Senate Republicans slammed the Democrats for planning to hold a vote on a bill no one has seen yet.
"Here's the most outrageous part: at the end of this rush, they want us to vote on a bill that no one outside the Majority Leader's conference room has even seen," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a release Thursday. "That's right. The final bill we'll vote on isn't even the one we've had on the floor. It's the deal Democrat leaders have been trying to work out in private.
Blood Stem-Cell Transplant Regimen Reverses Sickle Cell Disease in Adults
A modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen has effectively reversed sickle cell disease in 9 of 10 adults who had been severely affected by the disease, according to results of a National Institutes of Health study in the Dec. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The trial was conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., by NIH researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
February 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Charnette Messe, a 35-year-old mother of two, was living the American dream until she learned she had breast cancer, and then the very next day, found out she was pregnant. Fighting for her life and that of her baby, Charnette wanted answers, and, now, she wants to tell other women the truth she discovered about the abortion she kept a secret for 15 years and why it may have caused her cancer.
Dr. Angela Lanfranchi, a New Jersey breast surgeon and co-founder of the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute, provides a medical explanation of why abortion is the single, most avoidable risk factor for breast cancer.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, December 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The former Dutch minister who successfully promoted the legalization of euthanasia has now admitted that the government's move was a mistake, and says that they should have first focused on palliative care.
Els Borst, who served as Health Minister for the Netherlands from 1994 to 2002, proposed the country's infamous euthanasia bill. When it passed in 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia. In 2008, Dutch doctors reported 2,331 cases of euthanasia, 400 cases of assisted suicide, and 550 deaths without request.
Borst drew criticism from some Christian political parties shortly after the passage of her bill for comments she made in an interview. Echoing the Christ's final words on the Cross, Borst exclaimed: "It is finished!"
Genes that Protect Chromosome Tips May Boost Longevity
By studying the genes of dozens of people who've lived to 100, scientists have found gene variants that appear to protect chromosome caps, or telomeres, from deteriorating with age. Longer telomeres were associated with both longer lives and healthier aging.
Telomeres (the yellow tips of the chromosomes, left) are segments of specialized DNA and proteins that cap the ends of chromosomes and prevent them from unraveling. With each cell division, telomeres erode slightly, although they can be rebuilt by the enzyme telomerase. When telomeres become too short, the cell stops dividing or dies. Telomeres are thought to play key roles in aging, cancer and other biological processes.
Medical News 
Many travelers are expected to visit Asia in the upcoming weeks to celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Tiger. Lunar New Year falls on February 14, 2010. If you are traveling, the Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) would like to share information and tips that will help you stay healthy and enjoy your trip.
Charnette Messe, a 35-year-old mother of two, was living the American dream until she learned she had breast cancer, and then the very next day, found out she was pregnant. Fighting for her life and that of her baby, Charnette wanted answers, and, now, she wants to tell other women the truth she discovered about the abortion she kept a secret for 15 years and why it may have caused her cancer.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, December 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - 
By studying the genes of dozens of people who've lived to 100, scientists have found gene variants that appear to protect chromosome caps, or telomeres, from deteriorating with age. Longer telomeres were associated with both longer lives and healthier aging.