The figure is staggering, the implications sobering. Senator Charles Grassley has revealed that a prominent University of Wisconsin researcher and surgeon has received $19 million over five years from Medtronic, one of the country’s largest medical device manufacturers. Sen. Grassley is investigating potential conflicts of interest in medicine.
The US Dept of Health and Human Services inspector general’s report published January 12 said FDA’s screening system is “unreliable” because of researchers’ conflicts of interest. The report focused on 118 new drug applications approved by the FDA in 2007.
In December 2008, the FDA published its guidance regarding structure/function claims for dietary supplements in the form of non-binding recommendations to supplement industry manufacturers. Contrary to the oft-repeated notion that dietary supplements are unregulated, under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, the “FDA has exclusive jurisdiction over the safety, and primary jurisdiction […]
Updates published on the FDA’s website reveals more products for infants that are contaminated with melamine. A December Pulse of Health Freedom article reported on the contradictory action taken by the FDA after baby formula was found to be contaminated with melamine, a compound first synthesized in 1834. Melamine is sometimes illegally added to food […]
One of 2008’s top ten health stories continues to trouble consumers in 2009: the hazardous compound bisphenol A (BPA), a common chemical component of plastics, which is widely found in consumer products like water bottles, food containers, baby bottles, and dental sealants. BPA is known to leach from these containers when food and drink is […]
The editors at WebMD have posted their list of top 10 health news stories from 2008. Salmonella in tomatoes was number one (even though it now appears that it wasn’t tomatoes and the tomato industry collapsed for no reason); the promise of healthcare reform placed second. Vitamin D was voted the hottest vitamin of 2008; […]
Freedom of healthcare choice has long been an issue when dealing with government-funded healthcare plans like Medicare and Medicaid. For instance, the Watson-Burton legislation attempted to address economically disadvantaged persons who rely on Medicaid for health insurance because they were given no dental freedom of choice. For most families on Medicaid, the choice is either […]
Researchers from NIH’s Women’s Health Initiative released a study this December tying the use of synthetic prescription hormones to breast cancer.
The Wall Street Journal recently published an article entitled “What You Don’t Know About a Drug Can Hurt You.”