Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
FDA Expected To Issue Its First Approval For A Peanut Allergy Treatment
NPR: Allergists Debate Anticipated FDA Approval Of A Peanut Allergy Drug
A panel of experts earlier this month recommended that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approve a new drug for children and teens with peanut allergies. The drug, called Palforzia, was developed by California startup Aimmune Therapeutics to be taken daily in a regimen known as oral immunotherapy. The therapy involves ingesting small doses of peanut protein, gradually increased over months, to blunt the immune system's overreaction to peanuts. When it's effective, patients can become biteproof — that is, able to withstand small amounts of peanut that would have previously caused possibly dangerous allergic reactions. (Landhuis, 9/23)
USA Today: More Blood Pressure Medicines Recalled Over Possible Cancer-Causing Impurity
A recall of common blood pressure medication losartan has been expanded for a fifth time after manufacturer Torrent Pharmaceuticals found a possibly carcinogenic impurity in more batches of the drug, federal health officials said. Three additional lots of losartan potassium tablets and two additional lots of losartan potassium/hydrochlorothiazide tablets were under recall, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday. (Miller, 9/23)
