FDA News Digest July 7, 2003 ______________________________________________________________ FDA Charts Rise in Enforcement Actions Against Public Health Threats FDA has pursued an aggressive strategy to protect the public health, cracking down on potentially dangerous activities and taking action against companies making misleading claims about products. Between 1998 and 2002, the agency saw rises in product recalls, injunctions, arrests and criminal convictions. http://www.fda.gov/oc/whitepapers/enforce.html ______________________________________________________________ Report Recommends Steps to Reduce Dietary Dioxin Exposure A new report, sponsored by an interagency group that includes FDA, recommends steps that can be taken to reduce human exposure to dioxin in foods. Because fetuses and infants are especially sensitive to the toxic effects of dioxin, which can be passed through the placenta and breast milk, the report suggests a plan to reduce girls' and women's exposure to dioxin during the years before childbearing. http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309089611?OpenDocument ______________________________________________________________ RECALLS The following products are being recalled for the reasons shown. Go to the linked page for more information: Espirit Ventilator Model V1000 (faulty material) http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/recalls/recall-060801.html Quirola Fresh Frozen Shrimp (undeclared sulfites) http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/chongraechoi06_03.html Pacific Seafood Northwest Style Smoked Salmon (potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination) http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/pacificsmoking07_03.html ______________________________________________________________ RECENT SPEECHES FDA Commissioner Mark B. McClellan, M.D., to the Harvard School of Public Health (July 1) http://www.fda.gov/oc/speeches/2003/harvard0701.html ______________________________________________________________ PUBLIC MEETINGS July 8 -- "Innovative Systems for Delivery of Drugs and Biologics: Scientific, Clinical, and Regulatory Challenges," 8 a.m.- 5:30 p.m., Bethesda, Md. http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/meetings/070803.html July 14 -- "SARS Diagnostics: Scientific and Regulatory Challenges," 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Rockville, Md. http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/meetings/071403.html For a list of other upcoming FDA meetings, seminars, and public events, go to http://www.fda.gov/opacom/hpmeetings.html ______________________________________________________________ Thanks for subscribing to the FDA News Digest. Our next posting will be July 14. To leave this list at any time, send an e-mail to LISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxx In the body of the message, write SIGNOFF FDA-NEWSDIGEST-L
