New DEA Policy Will Authorize Pharmacies, Hospitals to Serve as Authorized Drop-off Sites for Unused Medications Washington, DC—(ENEWSPF)—September 8, 2014,. Calling prescription drug addiction an “urgent and growing threat” to our nation’s public health, Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday announced a new Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) regulation that would[Read More…]

WHO has donated 24 motorcycles to the Ministry of Health in Guinea to support Ebola contact tracing activities in eight districts in the country. Photo: WHO/A. Pallangyo NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–5 September 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today vowed to mobilize the United Nations in every possible way to respond to the[Read More…]

Silver Spring, Maryland—(ENEWSPF)—September 5, 2014. Today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed marketing of the NephroCheck test, a first-of-a-kind laboratory test to help determine if certain critically ill hospitalized patients are at risk of developing moderate to severe acute kidney injury (AKI) in the 12 hours following the administration[Read More…]

SPRINGFIELD –(ENEWSPF)—September 5, 2014. Since Tuesday, September 2, more than 2,000 people began the application process to register for a medical cannabis identification card through the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). “We anticipated a few hundred patients and caregivers would begin registering for a medical cannabis identification card during[Read More…]

Sacramento, CA—(ENEWSPF)—September 4, 2014. The imposition of state laws legalizing the use of medical cannabis is not frequently associated with an increase in the prevalence of cannabinoids identified among drivers in fatal accidents, according to data published in the Journal of Safety Research. Investigators from the California Department of Motor[Read More…]

Attorney General Urges Patients of Community Health Systems to Sign Up for Free Credit Monitoring in Wake of Breach of Personal Information Chicago—(ENEWSPF)—September 4, 2014. Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued an alert to a data breach reported by Community Health Systems Inc. that compromised personal information of more than 264,000[Read More…]

Silver Spring, Maryland—(ENEWSPF)—September 4, 2014. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today granted accelerated approval to Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for treatment of patients with advanced or unresectable melanoma who are no longer responding to other drugs. Melanoma, which accounts for approximately 5 percent of all new cancers in the United States,[Read More…]

Center for Food Safety Challenges FDA to Issue Mandatory Regulation Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–September 4, 2014.  Center for Food Safety (CFS) yesterday expressed support for Perdue Food’s decision to end the use of antibiotics in hatcheries. The move comes as a result of growing concern among consumers and public health professionals about[Read More…]

CDC Director highlights US government response; calls for vastly increased and accelerated international response in West Africa Atlanta, GA–(ENEWSPF)–September 4, 2014.  CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. reported on his visits last week to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and called for immediate steps across nations to accelerate response to[Read More…]

Trend from 1999-2010 also shows widening disparities in diet quality between rich and poor Boston, MA—(ENEWSPF)—September 4, 2014. Dietary quality in the U.S. has improved steadily in recent years—spurred in large part by reduced trans fat intake—but overall dietary quality remains poor and disparities continue to widen among socioeconomic and[Read More…]