The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has welcomed the commitment of the sponsors to continue the D:A:D study at least until 2012. This ensures that the study, which was started on the initiative of the EMEA in 1999, will remain one of the most powerful pharmacovigilance tools to monitor the long-term safety of antiretroviral medicines.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved the injectable drug degarelix, the first new drug in several years for prostate cancer. Degarelix is intended to treat patients with advanced prostate cancer.

"FDA Patient Safety News," the FDA's monthly video series for health care professionals, has won the Cheers Award from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) for efforts to improve the safe use of medical products and prevent medical errors.

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has recommended the suspension of the marketing authorisation of Ionsys (fentanyl hydrochloride), from Janssen-Cilag International NV, because of a defect with the delivery system of the medicine that could lead to patients being overdosed.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers about a fraudulent scheme to extort money from consumers by callers who falsely identify themselves as "FDA special agents" or other FDA officials. Several instances have been reported to the FDA of calls enticing consumers to purchase discounted prescription drugs by wiring funds to one of several locations in the Dominican Republic.

As part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's ongoing efforts to ensure that heparin for patients remains safe, the government has seized 11 lots of heparin from Celsus Laboratories Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio. The five lots of Heparin Sodium Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) and six lots of Heparin Lithium were seized at the FDA's request by U.S. Marshals.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent Warning Letters to Bayer HealthCare concerning two unlawful, over-the-counter (OTC) aspirin products - Bayer Women's Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium (Bayer Women's) and Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage (Bayer Heart Advantage).