FDA Panel Statements Prompt Pharmacies to Pull Popular Nasal Decongestants from Pharmacy Shelves
Conventional over-the-counter cold meds promise cold symptom relief right on the front of their packaging, but U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisors have stated that an active ingredient in many popular cold medicines is not effective in relieving congestion when taken orally. An advisory panel for the FDA unanimously concluded recently that phenylephrine, a […]
Nearly 50 Percent of Federal Panelists Making Dietary Recommendations Have Money Ties to Food Industry
About half of the members of a U.S. federal government panel that shapes dietary recommendations in the United States have significant financial ties to big agriculture, processed food companies, weight loss companies, pharmaceutical companies, and other corporate organizations a recent report reveals. An additional four committee members had “possible” financial conflicts of interest.1 The Dietary […]
Pfizer Will Charge Patients $1,390 for COVID Anti-Viral Paxlovid
Pfizer, Inc. plans to charge consumers more than double the price charged to the U.S. government for its COVID-19 anti-viral drug nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, sold under the brand name Paxlovid. A five-day course of the drug to treat COVID will soon cost patients $1,390. According to researchers, it costs Pfizer $13 to manufacture the supply of pills […]
U.S. Vaccine Industry Harvesting Blood from Horseshoe Crabs
For many decades, the blue colored blood from horseshoe crabs has been harvested for purposes of medical research and for quality control and safety testing in vaccines, prosthetics and intravenous drugs. Their eggs are also a staple food for a shorebird bird known as the red knot, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered […]
Private Equity Buyouts of Health Care Facilities Comes With Cost to Patients
The rising trend in burnout of health care workers in recent years has presented an opportunity for private equity corporations in the United States to invest in the health care market at record high rates.1 For several decades, multibillion-dollar corporate giants have been gaining control of many sectors of American society, including the food industry […]
Los Angeles School District Encourages Sick Students to Attend Classes
When Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in California reopened following the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) declaration, public school officials initially demanded that parents keep students at home if they showed even the slightest symptoms of illness.1 At one time, LAUSD had the strictest COVID-19 protocols in the United States, which […]