‘Gluten-free water’ shows absurdity of trend in labeling what’s absent
Companies are exploiting a knowledge gap with consumers and fears of the supposed health hazards of certain ingredients with so-called absence labels.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
Articles on FDA
Displaying 1 - 20 of 30 articles
Why lowering nicotine in cigarettes could change the course of health
FDA Director Scott Gottlieb has proposed discussions about drastically cutting nicotine levels in cigarettes. This could result in some of the biggest health gains in history.
Why are we dragging our feet when more automation in health care will save lives?
In planes, trains and cars, we increasingly entrust our lives to automated safety systems. It's time for medical technology to catch up.
Don’t believe everything you hear about pesticides on fruits and vegetables
Reports about trace amounts of pesticides, like the EWG's Dirty Dozen, can leave people afraid to buy fruits and vegetables. But the hype is often overblown.
Faster access to new drugs doesn’t always mean better treatment
Intuitively, it might seem desirable to speed up access to medicines. But this means more drugs will be approved that may subsequently prove unsafe or ineffective.
How man’s best friend is helping cancer treatment
Dogs are great companions, and they also are proving to be great research subjects for cancer. Here's how our canine friends are pointing to possible treatments in human cancer.
Faster approval for drugs and medical devices under the 21st Century Cures Act raises concerns for patient safety
Lowering the threshold for FDA approval and feeding the agency less rigorous information will increase the likelihood of approvals of unsafe or ineffective drugs and devices.
Why are young women without wrinkles using Botox?
By getting young women hooked before they've even formed wrinkles, Botox peddlers have realized they can enlist them in a lifetime of treatment.
Multiple sclerosis survivors swear by hyperbaric oxygen – but does it work?
There is conflicting medical evidence.
The real reason the EpiPen and other off-patents are so expensive
The maker of the EpiPen has raised the price of two injectable treatments to about US$600, six times the price nine years ago. Why do drug companies do this? Because they can. The FDA ends up helping.
Why public health worries don’t have to ruin your cookie dough
The FDA recently advised people not to eat raw cookie dough because raw flour with E. coli in it had sickened 38 people. Do we really have to forgo our favorites?
Could FDA e-cigarette regulations help more people quit smoking?
Federal officials could give the FDA authority to develop e-cigarette regulations. But developing regulations that maximize their benefits and minimize their risks is harder than it looks.
Infographic: a snapshot of the thalidomide tragedy
Thalidomide was marketed as a safe, sleep-inducing drug, but when taken during pregnancy it could cause severe birth defects.
Timeline: key events in the history of thalidomide
Documents reveal thalidomide's manufacturer was warned about possible harms as early as 1956.
Why biologics were such a big deal in the Trans Pacific Partnership
Before the last round of negotiations, only a handful of issues remained in the way of concluding the TPP. A potential deal-breaker for Australia was intellectual property protections for biologics.
Antidepressant trial’s upended results show need for sharing all data
As part of an intiative to re-examine misrepresented or abandoned studies, we re-analysed an antidepressant trial. Here's what we found.
Victoria needs other states’ help for powdered alcohol ban to work
The Victorian government is calling on other state governments to join it in banning powdered alcohol, which was recently approved for marketing and sale in the US.
Should dying patients have the right to access experimental treatments?
In the last six months Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan and, most recently, Arizona have passed “right to try” laws that allow terminally ill patients to access treatments that have only passed…
‘Right to try’ laws are compassionate, but misguided
On November 4, the state of Arizona will decide whether to join Colorado, Missouri, Louisiana and Michigan in passing so-called right to try laws. If passed, the “Arizona Terminal Patients’ Right To Try…
How the Dallas Buyers Club changed HIV treatment in the US
This article contains spoilers. In the award-winning movie The Dallas Buyers Club, Matthew McConaughey plays the role of Ron Woodroof, a real-life Texas cowboy who was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1985…
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Professor and Dean, School of Public Health, Georgia State University
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Research Leader, Critical and Ethical Mental Health research group, Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide
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Professor and Head of Clinical Research, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance, University of Sydney
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Senior Research Fellow, WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Deakin University
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Senior Research Fellow, Bioethics, University of Sydney
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Associate Professor Politics and Policy Studies, Deakin University
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Professor of Medicine, University of Sydney
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Nial Wheate is a Friend of The Conversation.
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