The move, which the F.D.A. announced on Wednesday, represents the first time the agency has invoked authority under a 2007 law that empowered it to order changes in a drug’s prescribing information. Previously, the F.D.A. could only negotiate with a drug’s manufacturer to change the label.

Sales of the drugs, Aranesp and Procrit, have already plummeted in the last year because of studies suggesting that their use to treat the anemia caused by chemotherapy could actually make cancer worse or shorten lives. Procrit is manufactured by Amgen but sold under license by Johnson & Johnson.

Read more from NY Times.

Post from: Blisstree

Amgen Is To Reword Label of Anemia Drugs

I hope you guys had a great weekend. I hope you are recharged, rested and was able to unwind.

Here are the top five I found today, at the cancer front:

• Fat Women ‘At Greater Cancer Risk’
• Alzheimer’s or cancer: Which disease would you rather die from?
• Eating broccoli can help prevent bladder cancer
• Boy’s cancer project takes off
• Amgen To Use Lab21 Diagnostic Test For Cancer Gene

Well, that’s all for now folks! I hope you are up and about for the daily grind this week.

Post from: Blisstree

Cancer Commentary Links 17-March-2008