FDA News Digest October 21, 2002 __________________________________________________________ Dietary Supplements Claiming to Treat Autism Are Seized At FDA's request, U.S. marshals have seized hundreds of bottles of Kirkman's HypoAllergenic Taurine Capsules after the agency determined that the products made unsubstantiated claims to treat autism, a neurobehavioral disorder that begins in early childhood. The seizure was the result of an FDA investigation into the company's website. http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2002/NEW00845.html ___________________________________________________ FDA Offers Food Safety Tips for Halloween Children shouldn't snack while out trick-or-treating, before parents have had a chance to inspect the goodies. This is one of several tips FDA offers to help kids have a safe and healthy Halloween. http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/kids/candyandtreats.html __________________________________________________________ Website Features Questions and Answers on Opiate Addiction Treatments FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research has created a website with background on Subutex and Suboxone, two drugs recently approved to treat addiction to heroin and other opiates. The site has information for doctors, patients and pharmacists, as well as a helpful list of questions and answers. http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/subutex_suboxone/default.htm __________________________________________________________ FDA Survey Finds Nearly 25 Percent of Hospitals Reuse Single-Use Devices FDA has released results of a telephone survey conducted to estimate the extent of hospital reprocessing and reuse of medical devices such as saws, blades and forceps that are intended for single use. The survey showed that nearly 25 percent of all U.S. hospitals reuse single-use devices. http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/Reuse/survey-execsum.html __________________________________________________________ How's your knowledge about health-related topics such as blood pressure, osteoporosis and generic drugs? Find out by taking our 10-question quiz at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/quiz/onlinequiz7_js.html. __________________________________________________________ Thanks for subscribing to the FDA News Digest. Our next posting will be October 28. To leave this list at any time, send an e-mail to LISTSERV@LIST.NIH.GOV In the body of the message, write SIGNOFF FDA-NEWSDIGEST-L
