FDA News Digest for March 18, 2008

["U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)" <fda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: FDA News Digest for March 18, 2008

 

FDA News Digest

March 18, 2008

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IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE

 

»  News

    -- Agency Takes Next Step in Establishing Overseas Presence

    -- FDA Issues Alert on Prescription Cough Medicine Tussionex

»  Congressional Testimony

»  Safety Alerts/Recalls

»  Upcoming Public Meetings

»  Consumer Health Information

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NEWS

 

Agency Takes Next Step in Establishing Overseas Presence

FDA has received approval from the State Department to establish eight full-time permanent FDA positions at U.S. diplomatic posts in the People's Republic of China, pending authorization from the Chinese government. This is an important step forward in the agency's plans to hire and place FDA staff in China over the next 18 months. 

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01806.html

 

FDA Issues Alert on Prescription Cough Medicine Tussionex

FDA has issued an alert on the safe and correct use of Tussionex Pennkinetic Extended-Release Suspension in response to numerous reports of adverse events -- including death -- associated with the misuse and inappropriate use of this drug. Tussionex is a prescription cough medicine containing hydrocodone, a narcotic ingredient, and the antihistamine chlorpheniramine. FDA says the drug poses a serious risk for overdosing if not used according to the labeling.

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01805.html 

 

To view an archive of recent FDA news releases, go to

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/hpnews.html.

   

To access the RSS feed of FDA news releases, go to

http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/rssPress.xml.

[What is an RSS feed? See http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/newsfeeds.html.]

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CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY

 

March 12 -- FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition Director Stephen F. Sundlof, DVM, appeared before the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

    Subject: FDA's efforts to enhance food safety

http://www.fda.gov/ola/2008/foodsafety031208.html 

 

To view an archive of past testimony by FDA officials, go to

http://www.fda.gov/ola/listing.html

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SAFETY ALERTS/RECALLS

For a list of recalls, market withdrawals, and safety alerts involving FDA-regulated

products from the past 60 days, go to http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html.

 

To access the RSS feed of FDA recalls information, go to

http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/rssRecalls.xml

[What is an RSS feed? See http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/newsfeeds.html.]

 

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UPCOMING PUBLIC MEETINGS

 

March 25 -- Pediatric Advisory Committee

    Under discussion: adverse events reports for several drugs

    Location: Gaithersburg, Md.

http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/E8-1296.htm

 

April 1-2 -- Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee

    Under discussion: product development and clinical trial design for community-acquired pneumonia

    Location: Beltsville, Md.

http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/E8-814.htm

 

For a complete list of FDA meetings, seminars, and other public events, go to

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/hpmeetings.html.

 

 

CONSUMER HEALTH INFORMATION

 

Each week, we offer links to articles about FDA activities and FDA-regulated products. In the spotlight this week:

 

› FDA 101: Medication Errors

http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/medicationerrors031408.html

› Internet Drugs Falsely Claim to Prevent, Treat STDs

http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/STDs031208.html

 

To receive all consumer updates, go to http://www.fda.gov/consumer/consumerenews.html

 

 

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