Latest U.S. Food and Drug Administration News

Two Georgia deaths are tied to abortion restrictions. Experts say abortion pills they took are safe

Sep. 19, 2024 12:17 PM EDT

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak about abortion Friday in Georgia, where two women’s deaths have been tied to a state law that mostly bans the procedure after roughly six weeks. Amber Thurman died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat complications that...

Fight to restore Black voters' strength could dismantle Florida's Fair Districts Amendment

Sep. 12, 2024 15:49 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A coalition of voting rights groups is pointing to a voter-approved amendment to argue Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the state constitution when he dismantled a Black congressional district, but if they lose the case, the Fair Districts Amendment itself...

Nearly 2,000 drug plants are overdue for FDA checks after COVID delays, AP finds

Sep. 06, 2024 11:21 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators responsible for the safety of the U.S. drug supply are still struggling to get back to where they were in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended factory inspections in the U.S. and across the world, The Associated Press has found. An AP...

Teen vaping hits 10-year low in the US

Sep. 05, 2024 13:26 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fewer adolescents are vaping this year than at any point in the last decade, government officials reported Thursday, pointing to a shrinking number of high school students who are using Elf Bar and other fruity, unauthorized e-cigarettes. The latest survey numbers...

5 takeaways from AP's report on the big backlog of uninspected drug factories

Sep. 05, 2024 09:23 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As COVID-19 swept across the globe in early 2020, the Food and Drug Administration pulled most of its safety inspectors from the field, creating a massive backlog of uninspected pharmaceutical plants in the U.S. and overseas. Nearly five years later, The...

What to know about delta-8 and other common vape shop drugs

Sep. 03, 2024 10:36 AM EDT

They're sold in gas stations, vape shops, online and in other stores around the country in seemingly countless enticing forms: gummies, chocolate bars, chips. Their packaging lists things like delta-8 THC, micro- and macrodoses of “psychedelics” and “nootropics." These...

Congresswomen press FDA on why a proposal to ban hair-straightening chemicals is delayed

Aug. 28, 2024 12:24 PM EDT

Two U.S. House members who first pushed the Food and Drug Administration in 2023 to investigate the health risks of hair straighteners used primarily by Black women are now asking the agency why it has twice delayed its target date to propose a ban on products containing formaldehyde, which studies...

FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines, shots should be available in days

Aug. 22, 2024 18:27 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators approved updated COVID-19 vaccines on Thursday, shots designed to more closely target recent virus strains -- and hopefully whatever variants cause trouble this winter, too. With the Food and Drug Administration’s clearance, Pfizer and Moderna...

FDA approves first nasal spray to treat dangerous allergic reactions

Aug. 11, 2024 18:15 PM EDT

U.S. health officials on Friday approved a nasal spray to treat severe allergic reactions, the first needle-free alternative to shots like EpiPen. The Food and Drug Administration said it approved the spray from drugmaker ARS Pharmaceuticals Inc. as an emergency treatment for adults...

FDA rejects psychedelic MDMA as treatment for PTSD, calling for additional study

Aug. 09, 2024 17:58 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health regulators on Friday declined to approve the psychedelic drug MDMA as a therapy for PTSD, a major setback for groups seeking a breakthrough decision in favor of using mind-altering substances to treat serious mental health conditions. Drugmaker...