Apr 01 Mass layoffs begin at HHS agencies responsible for research, tracking disease and regulating food By Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press The cuts include researchers, scientists, doctors, support staff and senior leaders, leaving the federal government without many of the key experts who have long guided U.S. decisions on medical research, drug approvals and other issues. Continue reading
Mar 29 Watch 9:24 How new job cuts at the nation’s leading health agency affect Americans By Ali Rogin, Kaisha Young, Zoie Lambert The FDA’s top vaccine official has resigned. On Friday, Dr. Peter Marks wrote that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants “subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.” That follows this week’s announcement that the Department of Health and Human… Continue watching
Feb 24 AP report: FDA moves to rehire medical device staffers fired only days earlier By Matthew Perrone, Associated Press Barely a week after mass firings at the Food and Drug Administration, some probationary staffers received unexpected news over the weekend: The government wants them back. Continue reading
Jan 25 The FDA banned Red 3 food coloring. A scientist explains the dye’s history and health risks By Lorne J. Hofseth, The Conversation Over 35 years after the first study linking the artificial food dye Red 3 to thyroid cancer in rats was published, the U.S. is beginning to phase it out of foods and drugs. Continue reading
Jan 15 FDA bans red dye No. 3 from foods, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk By JoNel Aleccia, Associated Press U.S. regulators are banning the dye called Red 3 from the food supply. The move comes nearly 35 years after the dye was barred from cosmetics such as lipsticks because of potential cancer risk. Continue reading
Jan 15 FDA releases plan to make cigarettes less addictive, but its fate rests with Trump By Matthew Perrone, Associated Press Federal officials on Wednesday released a far-reaching proposal to make cigarettes less addictive by capping their nicotine content, a goal long sought by antismoking advocates that is unlikely to go into effect anytime soon. Continue reading
Dec 24 Watch 5:59 New FDA rules aim to redefine what’s considered ‘healthy’ By William Brangham, Jackson Hudgins The Food and Drug Administration has issued new rules for food labels for the first time in three decades, an update the agency says will help empower consumers to make healthier choices in the grocery store. Lindsey Smith Taillie, a… Continue watching
Dec 02 LISTEN: Supreme Court seems unconvinced FDA blocking of flavored vapes popular with youths unfair By Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press A majority of Supreme Court justices didn't seem convinced Monday that federal regulators misled companies before refusing to allow them to sell sweet flavored vaping products following a surge in teen e-cigarette use. Continue reading
Nov 28 Watch 5:43 Why the FDA wants to pull this common cold medicine ingredient from shelves By Stephanie Sy, Jackson Hudgins With winter setting in around much of the country, many people are also gearing up for cough and cold season. But the Food and Drug Administration now says that phenylephrine, a long-used ingredient in many over-the-counter medicines, is ineffective and… Continue watching
Nov 28 Supreme Court to hear case on crackdown of sweet vapes popular with kids By Lindsay Whitehurst, Associated Press The Food and Drug Administration has denied more than a million marketing applications for candy or fruit flavored products, part of a wider crackdown that advocates say helped drive down teen nicotine use after an epidemic-level surge in 2019. Continue reading