Health News
The FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients of new preliminary information from the North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry that suggests that babies exposed to Lamic... Read more
Dimetapp is changing the decongestant in all of its products from pseudoephedrine to phenylephrine. They are doing this because due to a federal law to prevent methamphetamine production, al... Read more
It is unclear whether coffee increases the risk of heart attacks. There is a gene responsible for caffeine metabolism; people can be characterized as fast or slow caffeine metabolizers based... Read more
FDA and GlaxoSmithKline notified healthcare professionals of changes to the BOXED WARNING, WARNINGS and PRECAUTIONS sections of the prescribing information for Dexedrine (dextroamphetamine s... Read more
The CDC has now officially published the recommendation that all children in the U.S. receive vaccination against rotavirus, an extremely common cause of vomiting and diarrhea in infants and... Read more
Formal developmental screening now recommended in infants and toddlers. Read more
The expert panel that makes vaccine recommendations and policy for children and adults in the U.S. has voted to recommend a chickenpox (varicella) vaccine booster for all children. The chick... Read more
The panel that makes official vaccine policy for the US has voted to make the new cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil part of the routine vaccine schedule for all children. It is recommended th... Read more
The FDA has approved a vaccine, Gardasil Read more
The United States National Library of Medicine, through its Toxicology Data Network, has published a new online database called LactMed that lists medications and their use by breasfeeding m... Read more
In April 2006, new growth charts became available from the World Health Organization. These growth standards are based on optimal nutrition and feeding practices and a healthy environment. T... Read more
The World Health Organization (WHO) released new child growth standards on April 27, 2006. These new growth charts are for children from birth to age five years and are the result of a lengt... Read more
As we reported before, the FDA is updating warnings about Phenergan (promethazine) use in children. The FDA has now notified healthcare professionals and patients that cases of breathing pro... Read more
The expert panel that makes vaccine recommendations for children and adults in the U.S. has voted to recommend that all children receive the newly licensed rotavirus vaccine. It will be give... Read more
The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) has just published new comprehensive evidence-based guidelines for the treatment of cough in adults and children. These guidelines recommend t... Read more
The FDA has approved a new oral vaccine, RotaTeq, to prevevnt gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhea) caused by rotavirus, an extremely common virus in infants and toddlers. It is the most c... Read more
The new Tdap vaccine, which adds a booster for pertussis (whooping cough) to the standard tetanus (Td) booster, is now recommended in adults as well by the expert panel that makes vaccine re... Read more
Pemoline (Cylert and generics) is a stimulant medication used to treat Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD). There have been known risks of liver damage and failure from this drug for years... Read more
In October, the expert panel that makes vaccine recommendations and policy for adults and children in the United States decided to recommend Hepatitis A vaccine for all children in the Unite... Read more
The FDA has issued a warning about adolescents who use Strattera (atomoxetine) for ADD/ADHD. Several studies have indicated that there may be an increased risk of suicidal thinking or attemp... Read more
In an extremely large study of 805,206 children (all the children born in Denmark from 1990 to 2001), there was no greater risk of serious or mild infections as the number of vaccines given... Read more
The expert panel that makes vaccine recommendations for the U.S. is recommending that all adolescents age 11 to 12 years of age be given the Tdap vaccine instead of the Td vaccine (tetanus b... Read more
In this randomized controlled study, the effects of adding orlistat (Xenical) to a program of diet, exercise, and behavior modification were measured. The adolescents who received orlistat h... Read more
The FDA has approved a second new tetanus booster shot now containing a whooping cough (pertussis) booster as well. The vaccine is called ADACEL and is made by sanofi pasteur. (Another vacc... Read more
The FDA has licensed a new tetanus booster shot now containing a whooping cough (pertussis) booster as well. The vaccine, called BOOSTRIX, is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. The vaccine is... Read more
The FDA has issued a new warning about Elidel (pimecrolimus) and Protopic (tacrolimus) and the risk of cancer, and the proper use of these drugs in children and adults. Some of these warning... Read more
In very preliminary research published in JAMA, researchers found evidence of mutations in cells from fetuses whose mothers smoked tobacco. There were some serious limitations to the study,... Read more
The Food and Drug Administration is requiring a new warning and changes to dosing information for promethazine (Phenergan ®), a commonly used drug for nausea and vomiting in children and adu... Read more
As expected, this week the ACIP, the official U.S. immunization recommendation committee, decided to recommend the new meningococcal vaccine (MCV4, Menactra) for all children ages 11-12, as... Read more
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has updated its breastfeeding recommendations, last updated in 1997. Revised recommendations include: exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months,... Read more