With the FDA’s ban on the words such as “light,” “mild,” “medium,” and “low-tar” from cigarette packaging going into effect today, Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. have switched to colored packaging to communicate differences in products. The FDA is challenging this use of colors, arguing that it suggests certain products are safer.

An FDA advisory panel has unanimously rejected Boehringer Ingelheim s application for flibanserin, a failed anti-depressant drug they proposed to use as a treatment for reduced sexual desire in women. The panel argued that the research was not robust enough to justify the risks but encouraged the company to further their research efforts.

Remember our earlier Dispatch questioning a Stare Back ad? Well, this morning, ACSH s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan was appalled when she saw a one-page Camel Snus ad with the message BE There DO That and a very prominent warning label comprising a quarter of the page. Who would have known that this ad is for the less harmful, smokeless nicotine alternative, snus, unless they read it with a magnifying glass?

It is the first day of summer, and while many will want to dive into their swimming pools, a recent report by the American Association of Pediatrics points out that African-American children are three times more likely to drown than white kids, mainly due to deeply entrenched fears of drowning.

Parents who intentionally failed to vaccinate their 7-year-old son are responsible for a 2008 mini-epidemic of measles in San Diego, and the city should bill them the $125,000 it spent containing the outbreak, an obstetrician-gynecologist argues in a recent blog post for KevinMd.com. Citing a new paper in Pediatrics that provides insight into the outbreak, Dr.

An iconic photo of renowned British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the World War II museum in London is missing something these days: his beloved cigar. A museum visitor was the first to notice the cigar’s disappearance, which has been attributed to an unknown airbrushing censor.

A randomized trial published today in The Lancet assesses the risk of adverse gastrointestinal effects — mainly bleeding — in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis patients associated with treatment using celecoxib (Celebrex) in a head-to-head comparison trial versus diclofenac (a commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) plus the stomach-protecting omeprazole (Prilosec).

Upon discovering that the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the foremost expert organization on the causes of cancer, posted the recently released “President’s Cancer Panel” report on their website, ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan expressed her discontent in a letter:

He who laughs hardest, laughs last, and ACSH staffers shared a hearty chuckle this morning over a study indicating that free-range chickens in Taiwan have an average of 5.7 times higher levels of dioxin than their counterpart caged hens.

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the governing national organization responsible for accrediting medical education courses, recently announced a troubling new policy prohibiting physicians and researchers employed by the pharmaceutical industry from participating in medical education presentations or meetings, citing conflict of interest considerations.