Drugs

Chinese Labs Exporting New Form of Fentanyl

Chinese laboratories are producing and openly selling a new form of fentanyl to get around that country’s export laws and the fact that it is not yet on the U.S. government list of controlled substances. Stat News reports that furanyl fentanyl, which was blamed for the March overdose death of an Illinois man, is technically legal for drug dealers to sell since FDA has not yet placed it on the controlled substances list.

The article quotes the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as saying that it is moving quickly to ban street sales of the product. DEA spokesman Russell Baer told the new outlet that within days the agency would classify furanyl fentanyl as an analog to fentanyl, meaning that it would be treated in the same fashion as fentanyl. He said DEA is planning similar action with other fentanyl analogs it has identified.

“Laboratories are automatically tweaking the formula to come up with the next analog,” Baer said. “We will seek to put furanyl fentanyl on the list [of controlled substances] and then they will tweak one molecule and in two months we will be discussing that one. It is a challenging process for us.”

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton’s responses on vaccines, contraception and abortion medication during her 9/24 Senate confirmation hearing raise concerns that ideology could influence her decision-making if she takes over the agency, MSNBC senior medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta said Friday. Gupta was particularly critical of Overton’

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA commissioner nominee Heidi Overton emerged from her Senate confirmation hearing Thursday (see earlier story) without resolving questions about whether she has enough Republican support to advance — and with a rapidly narrowing window for confirmation before the midterm elections. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing provided few

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA has classified Boston Scientific's recall of its Imager II Angiographic Catheters as Class I because a manufacturing problem could cause catheter tips to degrade and detach, potentially resulting in life-threatening complications. The agency announced the Class I classification 9/25, updating an Early Alert it issued

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome

FDA has approved Roche’s Gazyva (obinutuzumab) for reducing the risk of relapse in adults and children aged 2 and older with frequently relapsing or steroid-dependent, childhood-onset idiopathic nephrotic syndrome who are in remission. The expanded approval covers the use of the CD20-directed antibody beyond its existing

Read more

Gupta Raises Concerns About Overton’s Independence, Ideology

Overton Confirmation Remains Uncertain After Senate Hearing

FDA Classifies Boston Scientific Imager II Catheter Recall as Class I

FDA Approves Gazyva for Childhood-Onset Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome