FDA Chief Gets Grilled Again Over Baby Formula Shortage
WASHINGTON — FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, pushed back Thursday at assertions by senators that FDA staff isn’t working hard enough to ease the nation’s baby formula shortage. “Complacency is apparently the FDA’s catchphrase when it comes to infant formula,” Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) […]
Abbott Formula Plant Was ‘Unacceptably Insanitary,’ FDA Chief Tells Lawmakers
WASHINGTON — FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, expressed disgust and disappointment over the conditions at the Abbott baby formula manufacturing plant in Sturgis, Michigan, while an Abbott official apologized and vowed to ensure that the problem would not return. “There is no dispute that the facility was unacceptably insanitary” when FDA inspectors went to see […]
Biden Administration Announces Steps to Increase Infant Formula Supply
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced several actions Thursday aimed at relieving a nationwide shortage of infant formula. “President Biden has directed his administration to work urgently to ensure that during the Abbott Nutrition voluntary recall, infant formula is safe and available for families across the country,” the White House said in a fact sheet. […]
Rep. Cori Bush: Biden Should ‘Absolutely’ Say The Word ‘Abortion’ More
WASHINGTON ― As the Senate voted on safeguarding abortion rights Wednesday, a group of House Democrats were there urging their colleagues to vote yes. The Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have created federal protections for providing and accessing abortion services, failed along party lines ― with the exception of West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, the […]
Republicans Set To Block Bill Codifying Roe v. Wade Once Again
WASHINGTON — Legislation aimed at safeguarding abortion rights across the country is set to fail in the Senate for the second time this year as a conservative majority on the Supreme Court prepares to strike down its landmark 1973 ruling, Roe v. Wade. The Women’s Health Protection Act would create federal protections for providing and […]
Two Senators on Different Sides Unite on Mental Health Law Reauthorization
WASHINGTON — Two senators are spearheading a bipartisan effort to reauthorize a bill focusing on mental health care. When Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.), and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) set out to develop a mental health bill, they agreed to disagree on some issues, “but it turns out we had much, much more common ground […]
Dem Senator Introduces Bill to Stem Attacks on Healthcare Workers
WASHINGTON — Emergency nurses and physicians met outside the Capitol building Wednesday to raise awareness of the threats and physical assaults they encounter on the job, and to voice support for a bill that aims to help prevent such violence and create an environment where these incidents aren’t tolerated. Among the many healthcare workers at […]
Everybody Loves CHIP, So Why Isn’t It Permanently Funded?
WASHINGTON — When Rep. Kim Schrier, MD (D-Wash.), a pediatrician, was asked at the Families USA virtual conference in January about the important healthcare provisions in the Build Back Better Act, there was one item she made sure to mention: permanent funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). “Every year the Children’s Health Insurance […]
New COVID-19 nasal spray outperforms current antibody treatments in mice: A single inhaled dose treated or even prevented infection by COVID-19 and its variants
A new protein-based antiviral nasal spray developed by researchers at Northwestern University, University of Washington and Washington University at St. Louis is being advanced toward Phase I human clinical trials to treat COVID-19. Designed computationally and refined in the laboratory, the new protein therapies thwarted infection by interfering with the virus’ ability to enter cells. […]
Patiromer Limits Impact of RAAS Inhibitor-Related Hyperkalemia in HF
WASHINGTON — Use of the potassium-binding agent patiromer (Veltassa) allowed more heart failure patients at risk for hyperkalemia to remain on optimal therapy with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAAS), including mineralocorticoids, the randomized DIAMOND trial showed. For the study’s revised primary endpoint, patiromer led to a significant reduction in potassium levels by study end versus placebo […]