E-cigarettes are hotly debated because of the uncertainty of whether they are a gateway to cigarette smoking for teens, or an aid to smoking cessation. One thing is clear: They are not biodegradable.
An FDA lab technician inspects food for contaminants in Lenexa, Kansas.
AP Photo/Todd Feeback
The Trump administration wants to streamline federal food safety efforts under one roof as part of a sweeping new plan to reorganize government.
Heather Bresch, CEO of Mylan, holds two EpiPens as she testified before Congress Sept. 21, 2016 about rising costs of the drug.
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
The rising costs of generic drugs have led to outcries. In a search for solutions, four hospital systems are proposing to make drugs on their own. Could their idea work?
An increasing list of rare diseases can now be treated with gene therapy. But we need to figure out a way to make them affordable.
In this March 18, 2011 photo, Cassidy Hempel waved at hospital staff as she was being treated for a rare disorder. Her mother Chris, left, fought to gain permission for an experimental drug.
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Congress has sent a bill to the White House. It gives terminally-ill patients more false hope than chances for a cure.
Health Canada’s intention to increase the fees drug makers pay for the drug approval process threatens to compromise drug safety and the health of the Canadian public.
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Health Canada proposes to increase fees to the pharmaceutical industry for prescription drug approval. This will compromise drug safety and is a risk to the health of the Canadian public.
The herb kratom has a large following and is so popular that it is sold in vending machines. The FDA recently issued a public warning about the herb, which contains low levels of opioids.
How can we fight the opioid epidemic? Redesign the drugs, rethink how we assess patients and mandate prescription monitoring.
Embedded medical devices will continue to be vulnerable to cybersecurity threats. The pacemaker depicted is not made by Abbott’s.
REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Companies are exploiting a knowledge gap with consumers and fears of the supposed health hazards of certain ingredients with so-called absence labels.
Studies have shown that most smokers wish they had never smoked and that they wish they could stop. Lowering the levels of nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes, would be a big step.
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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.
Hundreds of women have complained of adverse reactions from transvaginal mesh implants.
Anna Noack/Unsplash
Regulatory bodies approved some medical devices to treat pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence before having data to prove their safety and efficacy.
From closed-loop ventilators to smarter vital sign monitors, automation has untapped potential to improve medical outcomes.
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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.
Weaker regulatory standards in the US can impact health everywhere.
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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.
The author, center, and Dr. Anna Conti, left, and student Kelsey Parrish with Conti’s Basset hound, Picasso, who had surgery for cancer. Via Colorado State University.
William Cotton/CSU Photography
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.
Any antimicrobial chemicals in there?
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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.
Professor and Director of Quantitative Biosciences Institute & Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes, University of California, San Francisco