Latest U.S. Food and Drug Administration News

TikTok videos promoting steroid use have millions of views, says report criticized by the company
NEW YORK (AP) — TikTok has become a key marketing channel for vendors promoting steroids and other bodybuilding drugs to millions of the app's users, according to a report released Thursday that the social media company disputes. In the study, the nonprofit Center for Countering...

FDA advisers vote against experimental ALS treatment pushed by patients
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health advisers voted overwhelmingly against an experimental treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease at a Wednesday meeting prompted by years of patient efforts seeking access to the unproven therapy. The panel of Food and Drug Administration experts voted...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs law to protect doctors who mail abortion pills to other states
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Wednesday that aims to stop other states from prosecuting doctors and pharmacists who mail abortion pills to patients in places where the procedure is banned. California already has a law protecting doctors...

After US approval, Japan OKs its first Alzheimer's drug. Leqembi was developed by Eisai and Biogen
TOKYO (AP) — Japan's health ministry has approved Leqembi, a drug for Alzheimer’s disease that was jointly developed by Japanese and U.S. pharmaceutical companies. It's the first drug for treatment of the disease in a country with a rapidly aging population. Developed by Japanese...

Experimental treatment pushed by ALS patients gets day before FDA, but agency unconvinced it works
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration meets this week to consider approval of an experimental treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease, the culmination of a yearslong lobbying effort by patients with the fatal neurodegenerative disease. Those advocates still face one giant...

Missouri says clinic that challenged transgender treatment restrictions didn't provide proper care
Missouri officials struck back at one of the clinics that unsuccessfully challenged new state restrictions on gender affirming care, accusing the clinic in a lawsuit of failing to provide proper care for transgender minors even before the new law took effect. Missouri's Republican...

Surgeons perform second pig heart transplant, trying to save a dying man
WASHINGTON (AP) — Surgeons have transplanted a pig’s heart into a dying man in a bid to prolong his life – only the second patient to ever undergo such an experimental feat. Two days later, the man was cracking jokes and able to sit in a chair, Maryland doctors said Friday. The...

Psychedelic drug MDMA eases PTSD symptoms in a study that paves the way for possible US approval
The psychedelic drug MDMA can reduce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, researchers reported in a new study published Thursday. The company sponsoring the research said it plans later this year to seek U.S. approval to market the drug, also known as ecstasy, as a PTSD...

Pig kidney works a record 2 months in donated body, raising hope for animal-human transplants
NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of doctors and nurses silently lined the hospital hallway in tribute: For a history-making two months, a pig’s kidney worked normally inside the brain-dead man on the gurney rolling past them. The dramatic experiment came to an end Wednesday as surgeons at...
Contradicting federal health officials, Florida Gov. DeSantis recommends against new COVID booster
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s top health department official are directly contradicting federal health recommendations and warning residents against getting a new COVID-19 booster, saying there’s not enough evidence it provides benefits that outweigh...
