Perhaps responding to ACSH’s Director of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Dr. Josh Bloom’s op-ed on the effect of the FDA’s overly-precautionary regulations on the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA is countering claims that it is not approving enough drugs. The agency published a statement arguing that the number of approvals for novel drugs, called new molecular entities (NMEs), has remained stable over the past decade.

The Tobacco Product Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) issued a draft report earlier today advocating a ban on menthol cigarettes. Their statement said, “removal of menthol cigarettes from the marketplace would benefit the public health.” This was based on studies which have indicated a higher rate of smoking-related diseases among African-Americans, who overwhelmingly prefer menthol cigarettes.

A new study sheds light on the difficulties physicians experience when trying to control the lipid levels in patients with coronary artery disease. Published in the American Journal of Cardiology, the study reviewed the electronic records of approximately 10,000 patients seen at a cardiology practice between September 2008 and September 2009 to assess whether the patients were achieving recommended cholesterol and triglyceride goals.

Chinese residents must have heard U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin s statement earlier this week supporting the precautionary use of potassium iodide (KI) pills by Californians. Many are afraid of developing thyroid cancer from the radioactive iodine that may have been released from Japan s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

A meta-analysis of 16 studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that low-radiation heart CT scans, known as gated CT’s, are equally effective in diagnosing heart problems as a coronary angiography, the current gold standard. The angiogram, done via a catheter inserted through an artery into the heart, however, is invasive and not without risk, so some doctors resort to a CT scan for diagnosing patients with chest pain instead.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is fuming over the latest animation flick Rango, featuring the voice of Johnny Depp as a desert town chameleon, stating that the depiction of smoking in the PG-rated movie will encourage younger audiences to think the habit is appealing.

Though the rate of smoking among U.S. adults has remained relatively stagnant over the past few years — hovering around 20 percent as reported by the CDC in September — there is still some good news to be had. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association uses two large, population-based surveys comprising a total of 1,662,353 respondents to determine if smokers are smoking fewer cigarettes.

Cutting-edge gene therapy may be one step closer to reaching Parkinson’s patients.

New estimates from the CDC yesterday report that life expectancy in the U.S. has hit another all-time high, up to approximately 78 years and two months. In addition, about 36,000 fewer people died in 2009 compared to 2008, and the infant mortality rate hit a record low of 6.42 deaths per 1,000 live births. This translates to a 3 percent decrease from the year before.

ACSH received a response from The New York Times Public Editor Art Brisbane regarding our request for a correction to John Collins Rudolf’s blog on Walmart’s ban of PDBE flame retardants. In it, Mr. Rudolf identified ACSH as an “industry-financed group” and implied that our own Jody Manley was a “chemical lobbyist.” Mr. Brisbane responded with: