GAO Hounds Supplement Makers

The Government Accounting Office has contacted makers of dietary supplements, announcing its review of the marketing of certain herbal supplements (chamomile, Echinacea, peppermint oil, ginger root, fennel seed). This is being done at the request of the Senate Select Committee on Aging.

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NIH’s New Radiation Policy

National Institutes of Health now requires all CT and other radiation-producing scanners used at NIH clinics to come with software able to track the dosage of radiation given to every patient and log it into an electronic medical record.

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FDA Tiptoes Around BPA

The FDA’s failure to protect newborns and the unborn from BPA recalls the old joke “How many deaths does it take for the FDA to remove a drug from the market?” The answer (not all funny): all too many.

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Statin Drugs and Vitamin D Deficiency

The September 2009 newsletter of the Vitamin D Council weighs the scientific evidence pointing to a connection between the use of statin drugs (prescribed to lower cholesterol) and vitamin D deficiency. Are the drugs most often prescribed in the United States linked to vitamin D deficiency, known to affect up to 77 percent of all Americans?

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