Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of June 13, 2022–June 17, 2022.
Over-the-counter medication bottles recalled due to failure to meet child safety standards
The Hill (6/16, Scully) reports that on Thursday, the Consumer Product Safety Commission “announced the recall of over 400,000 bottles of over-the-counter medicine due to issues with the child-resistant packaging, which did not meet the requirements in the Poison Prevention Packaging Act.” Aurohealth recalled nearly “137,300 units of Walgreens brand acetaminophen, as well as approximately 25,660 units of Kroger brand arthritis pain acetaminophen.” Also, Time-Cap Lab “recalled about 209,430 units of Kroger brand aspirin and ibuprofen, and Sun Pharma recalled nearly 34,660 units of Kroger brand acetaminophen.”
EPA releases new health advisories for PFAS thresholds
USA Today (6/15, Bagenstose) reports “the Environmental Protection Agency stunned scientists and local officials across the country on Wednesday by releasing new health advisories for toxic ‘forever chemicals,’” per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), “known to be in thousands of U.S. drinking water systems, impacting potentially millions of people.”
The AP (6/15, Daly) reports the EPA “issued nonbinding health advisories that set health risk thresholds for PFOA and PFOS to near zero, replacing 2016 guidelines that had set them at 70 parts per trillion.”
Also, Reuters (6/15, Gardner) reports the agency “said it would roll out the first $1 billion to tackle PFAS in drinking water, from a total of $5 billion in funding in last year’s infrastructure law.”
FDA advisers recommend use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in children ages six to 17
The New York Times (6/14, Weiland) reports that “an expert committee advising the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday unanimously recommended Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for use in children and adolescents ages 6 to 17.” The agency “will most likely follow the panel’s advice in the coming days, as it has done consistently during the pandemic, and grant authorization.”
CNN (6/14, Howard) reports the “vaccine has been estimated to be 93.3% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 among adolescents ages 12 to 17 when the original coronavirus and the Alpha variant were dominant,” and “76.8% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 for children ages 6 to 11 when the Delta variant was dominant.”
The AP (6/14, Stobbe) reports, “The same FDA expert panel will meet Wednesday to consider tot-sized shots from Moderna and Pfizer for the littlest kids, those under 5.”
Moderate drinkers over age 30 who binge drink have greater risk for multiple alcohol problems
CNN (6/13, LaMotte) reports a survey study has “found many moderate drinkers above age 30 actually end up binging on the weekend,” and those “who binged were about five times more likely to experience multiple alcohol problems, such as ‘getting hurt, emotional or psychological problems from alcohol, having to use more alcohol to get the same effect, and experiencing effects of alcohol at work, school or caring for children,’ said” a study author. These findings were published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
HealthDay (6/13, Norton) reports the survey results revealed that “when it came to alcohol problems, 7% of all moderate drinkers reported multiple issues at the outset; that grew to almost 12% when they were surveyed again nine years later.”
FDA says Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine safe, effective for young children
The Washington Post (6/10, A1, McGinley) reported, “Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration on Friday said Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for infants and young children was safe and effective, setting the stage for a review by the agency’s outside advisers Wednesday and a potential authorization by the end of the week.” The company “has asked the FDA for permission to use its vaccine in children 6 months through 5 years old.”
The New York Times (6/11, LaFraniere) reported the FDA “said that two shots of Moderna’s vaccine triggered an immune response in clinical trial participants comparable to that of young adults.” And while “fevers were more frequent in children under 6, the rates were not substantially different from those produced by other routine childhood vaccines, the agency said.”
The Hill (6/10, Vakil) reported FDA staff wrote, “Available data support the effectiveness of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in pediatric age groups from 6 months through 17 years of age.”
AMA Morning Rounds news coverage is developed in affiliation with Bulletin Healthcare LLC. Subscribe to Morning Rounds Daily.
Table of Contents
- Over-the-counter medication bottles recalled due to failure to meet child safety standards
- EPA releases new health advisories for PFAS thresholds
- FDA advisers recommend use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in children ages six to 17
- Moderate drinkers over age 30 who binge drink have greater risk for multiple alcohol problems
- FDA says Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine safe, effective for young children
