Agency Efforts Found Unlikely To Fill Gaps In Long-Term Monitoring WASHINGTON -- More than a year after the Food and Drug Administration announced it had strengthened its drug safety system, the agency still lacks a reliable way to keep track of emerging problems, congressional investigators conclude in a report to be released Monday. The Government Accountability Office found that a new Drug Safety Oversight Board and other FDA initiatives "are unlikely to address all the gaps" in the agency's system for monitoring the long-term safety of prescription drugs approved for market. [continues 576 words]
The FDA Is Looking Into Whether 120 Cases Could Be The Result Of Unintentional Fentanyl Overdoses WASHINGTON - Federal regulators are investigating about 120 deaths that may be linked to overdoses from a pain-relief patch that administers a potent narcotic through the skin, the Food and Drug Administration said Friday. Johnson & Johnson's Duragesic patch can provide up to three days' relief from severe chronic pain, such as that experienced by bone-cancer patients. But fentanyl, its active ingredient, is dangerous. An overdose of the morphine-like drug can put a patient into a coma and shut down breathing. [continues 704 words]
WASHINGTON - The Coast Guard spent 2,263 fewer duty hours on search and rescue this spring and 4,322 fewer hours than last year on drug interdiction, fanning concerns that port security duties will limit traditional missions. A new congressional analysis - among the first to measure trade-offs among competing priorities as a result of the war on terrorism - found Coast Guard boats and aircraft devoted 9 percent fewer operational hours to rescue missions from April through June of this year compared with the same period last year. [continues 204 words]
Port-Security Duties Are Up Eightfold, Post-9/11 Study Finds Washington -- The Coast Guard spent 2,263 fewer duty hours on search and rescue this spring and 4,322 fewer hours than last year on drug interdiction, fanning concerns that port security duties will limit traditional missions. A new congressional analysis -- among the first to measure trade-offs among competing priorities as a result of the war on terrorism -- found that Coast Guard boats and aircraft devoted 9 percent fewer operational hours to rescue missions from April through June of this year, compared with the same period last year. [continues 552 words]
