The FDA has announced that the prescribing information for haloperidol (Haldol, generic versions) has been revised to include a new cardiovascular subsection in the Warnings section. Life-threatening arrhythmias (e.g., sudden death, QT prolongation, torsades de pointes) have been reported in patients treated with haloperidol, especially when the drug is administered intravenously or at doses higher than [...]]]...

Important revisions have been made to the Contraindications, Warnings, and Dosage and Administration sections of the full prescribing information for ceftriaxone (Rocephin, Roche). This new information addresses the interaction of ceftriaxone with calcium-containing products based on reports of fatal cases in neonates. Although no cases of ceftriaxone-calcium precipitates in patients other than neonates have been reported, [...]]]...

For the first time in a decade, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program has updated clinical guide lines for the diagnosis and management of asthma. New features include: • an expanded section on asthma for children 5 to 11 years of age. • information on medications. • recommendations for patient education other than in a physician’s office. • advice for controlling environmental [...]]]...

The nasal influenza vaccine FluMist (MedImmune) is now approved to in clude children between two and five years of age. Approval had previously been limited to healthy children five years of age and olderand to adults up to age 49. The vaccine contains a weakened form of the live virus and is sprayed into the [...]]]...

The FDA has approved raloxifene drags HCl (Evista, Eli Lilly) for reducing the risk of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and in postmenopausal women at high risk for invasive breast cancer. As a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), raloxifene may act by blocking estrogen receptors in the breast. In 1997, the FDA approved generic [...]]]...