High-Dose Chemo Doesn’t Help Breast Cancer

Getting diagnosed with cancer is difficult enough, but choosing the right treatment from the bewildering array of options can be just as challenging. For breast cancer patients, that decision just got a little less complicated, with a new study showing that a once-popular therapy doesn’t provide any additional survival benefit.
Researchers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center [...]

FDA Panel Rejects Merck Statin Mevacor for OTC Status

 An FDA advisory panel on Thursday voted 10-2 against recommending that Merck’s cholesterol drug Mevacor be granted over-the-counter status, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Although FDA is not bound by its advisory panels’ recommendations, it usually follows them (Stark, Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/14). The decision marks the third time that an advisory panel has rejected such a [...]

Vaccine Recall: What Parents Need to Know

Merck announced that it is voluntarily recalling 1 million doses of two common childhood vaccines, routinely given to children under 5. Here’s everything you need to know about the recall.
Which vaccines are affected?
Merck is pulling 11 lots of PedvaxHIB and two lots of COMVAX. PedvaxHIB is a vaccine that protects against infection with haemophilus influenzae [...]