WASHINGTON – Rep. Henry Waxman said Tuesday he had been informed by an insider at the Food and Drug Administration that the agency was withholding documents sought by Congress that address whether the FDA could have prevented the flu vaccine shortage.
According to Waxman, D-Calif., the unidentified FDA employee recently contacted him and claimed that an array of materials had been prepared for public release by the end of last week, but an FDA official decided to keep them under wraps until after the Nov. 2 presidential election.
The documents sought by Congress relate to the FDA’s oversight of a flu vaccine factory owned by Chiron Corp., which British regulatory officials shut down earlier this month.
In a statement late Tuesday, Lester Crawford, acting commissioner of the FDA, said the FDA had not finished collecting all the documents.
Antidepressants, age studied in mice
In an experiment in mice, researchers have found that treatment with an antidepressant early in life increases the appearance of depression and anxietylike symptoms in adulthood. The researchers gave daily doses of fluoxetine, better known by the brand name Prozac, to mice from four days after birth until their normal weaning age of three weeks – a period that roughly corresponds in humans to a fetus in the third trimester of pregnancy up to early childhood. At 12 weeks – adulthood for mice – the test animals showed signs of abnormal behavior, said the study, which will be published this week in the journal Science.
California: Storm brings flooding
A powerful storm began sweeping across California on Tuesday, flooding homes, cutting power to thousands and leading to record snow in the Sierra Nevada. The National Weather Service predicted intense rain in Southern California today and Thursday, prompting flash flood warnings and fears of mudslides in mountain areas scarred by wildfires over the past year.
N.Y.: Victory for battered women
Women should not lose custody of their children solely because the youngsters see them being battered by abusive spouses, New York state’s highest court ruled Tuesday. The rights of both mothers and children are violated when custody is taken away under these circumstances, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
Texas: Party welcomes fugitive
A Dallas judge threw a party complete with balloons, streamers and a cake to welcome a former fugitive back to her court – and sentence him to life in prison. “You just made my day when I heard you had finally come home,” Criminal Courts Judge Faith Johnson told Billy Wayne Williams, 53, who had been convicted in absentia of aggravated assault after he disappeared a year ago. “We’re so excited to see you, we’re throwing a party for you,” the judge said. Williams, 53, was accused of choking his girlfriend until she lost consciousness. He failed to appear for his trial last November and was not captured until Thursday.
Pennsylvania: Heir pleads guilty
Robert Durst, the millionaire New York real estate heir acquitted last year of murdering a neighbor in Texas, pleaded guilty in Philadelphia to federal gun charges in exchange for a sentence of up to nine months.
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