Drug Administration
Juul to pay US state $40 million for targeting teens with e-cigarettes
Electronic cigarette giant Juul Labs Inc will pay $40m to North Carolina and take more action to prevent underage use and sales, according to a landmark United States legal settlement announced on Monday after years of accusations that the company had fueled an explosion in teen vaping. A state judge accepted the first-of-its-kind agreement with a US state. North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein had sued Juul, accusing it of employing unfair and deceptive marketing practices that targeted young people to use its vaping products, which deliver addictive nicotine. As part of the agreement, Juul will not advertise to anyone under 21 in North Carolina and will limit sales amounts of Juul products online to any state residents. It will also sell its products only behind counters at retailer...
NAFDAC tasks stakeholders on drug abuse eradication
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together towards eradicating the menace of drug abuse in the country. Prof. Moji Adeyeye, NAFDAC Director General, made the call on Tuesday in Abuja, at the 3rd National Youth conference on drug abuse, organised by Centre for Ethical Rebirth among Nigerian Youth (CERANY), an . Represented by the agency’s Director, Narcotics and Controlled Substances, Mr Musa Umar, she said all hands must be on deck to find solutions to the problem of drug abuse, adding that all should be determined to eradicate the scourge. According to her, the problem of drug abuse concerns everybody, saying cooperations must be strengthened to decisively deal with the problem. “Of all the crises f...
NAFDAC alerts Nigerians on effects of hair products containing formaldehyde
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians against the use of hair smoothing products containing formaldehyde. The agency says the U.S Food and Drug Administration has informed it of the short and long-term effects of formaldehyde exposure in hair smoothing products. The alert, No: 006/2021 – Formaldehyde in Hair Smoothing Products, was signed by the Director-General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, and issued to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday. It said most hair smoothing or straightening products release formaldehyde gas, a known human carcinogen, as classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, into the air during hair straightening or smoothing. According to the alert, when formaldehyde is re...
NAFDAC busts alleged illegal maize flour production facility in Yobe
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has busted an alleged illegal maize flour production outfit in Potiskum town of Yobe. This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Nasiru Mato, Assistant Director, in charge of the North East Zonal office of the agency and issued in Abuja on Saturday. Mato said the facility which was using a single store space for processing of maize into flour came under regulatory scrutiny when a team of officials of the agency stormed the premises. He said the maize milling and packaging outfit was operating without adherence to set quality standards and good manufacturing practice.According to Mato, the operation is a gross violation of NAFDAC Act Cap No. 1 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (2004), hence the sanction. He...
Nigeria expects 41 million coronavirus vaccine doses from African Union
Nigeria expects to receive 41 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from the African Union, the head of the country’s primary healthcare agency said on Monday, while the health minister said vaccines from Russia and India were being considered. Authorities in Africa’s most populous country, which has 200 million people, plan to inoculate 40% of the population this year and another 30% in 2022. The African Union initially secured 270 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states. Last week it was announced that the bloc would receive another 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Faisal Shuaib, who heads the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said Nigeria’s previous request for 10 million doses through the AU had been increased four-fold. “We have applied...
NOA advises Nigerians to disregard conspiracy theories about coronavirus vaccine
File Photo The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has advised Nigerians to disregard conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines and the various rumours being attributed to them. Director-General of NOA, Garba Abari, gave the advice in a statement, made available to newsmen in Abuja on Monday. Abari, while responding to insinuations of the possible use of the vaccines as population control and DNA altering measure, debunked the idea. He said that no vaccine would be allowed into Nigeria or administered to Nigerians without the approval of appropriate authorities. “Whatever vaccine coming into the country must be thoroughly tested and approved by relevant Nigerian authorities,’’ he said. He said the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as the agency responsib...
Coronavirus: Concern grows over potential superspreader event during US Capitol riot
Concerns are mounting about the health of lawmakers and other people in the Capitol last week, after the first member to test positive for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) since Wednesday’s chaos, said she believed she was exposed in a crowded hiding place with hundreds of other legislators. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., tested positive on Monday while experiencing mild symptoms, and said in a statement that she believes she caught the virus from her fellow lawmakers while hunkering down as Capitol Police struggled for hours to contain a Trump-inspired mob attack on the Capitol. Lawmakers were trapped in a room near the Capitol with hundreds of others, in some cases for hours, where at least one person who later tested positive for the coronavirus was present. The Office of the Attending P...
Joe Biden receives second dose of coronavirus vaccine on camera
Joe Biden on Monday received the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on camera, as part of an effort by the President-elect’s incoming administration to reassure the country of the safety of the vaccines. Biden was administered the shot in his left arm by Ric Cuming, chief nurse executive at ChristianaCare’s Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, according to Biden’s transition team. The President-elect said he would be announcing his plan to “get the entire Covid operation up and running,” including the necessary costs, on Thursday. Biden said he had a meeting with members of his team later Monday afternoon. Biden said he was “not afraid of taking the oath outside,” and that his team has been getting briefed, when asked if he had any fears about taking the oath of office...
Coronavirus: Prof. Maurice Iwu restates efficacy of herbal medicine
Bioresources Development Group (BDG) chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu has restated the efficacy of herbal medicine in the treatment of the COVID-19 cases as the virus enters variant stage globally. The former chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and eminent Professor of Pharmacognosy, Iwu, in a chat with Vanguard said that the effectiveness of special herbal drugs produced in the country, stands the chance of combating the disease at an early stage, but noted that the slow pace in acceptance and approval hinders its feasibility. Iwu also pointed that herbal extracts from a plant, “Andrographis Paniculata”, commonly known as green chiretta, already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Thailand is on its way to serve as an alternative treatment to the seve...
First Americans vaccinated as U.S. death toll passes 300,000
An intensive care unit nurse became the first person in the United States to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, calling it a sign that “healing is coming,” as the U.S. coronavirus death toll crossed a staggering 300,000 lives lost. Sandra Lindsay, who has treated some of the sickest COVID-19 patients for months, was given the vaccine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the New York City borough of Queens, an early epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, receiving applause on a livestream with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “It didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine,” Lindsay said. “I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. “I want to instil...
FDA: Independent committee recommends authorization of coronavirus vaccine
An independent committee of experts recommended Thursday that the Food and Drug Administration authorize the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people over the age of 16. Now, the FDA will decide whether to follow that recommendation. The agency could announce a decision within days. If they do authorize the vaccine, health care workers could begin receiving the shots almost immediately. The Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) met all day to review data on the vaccine, discuss plans for distribution, and outline plans for continued research. FDA scientists published a report about the vaccine on Tuesday, which analyzed data from the pharmaceutical companies and found that the vaccine was safe and 95 percent at preventing symptomatic COVID-19. Data fro...
Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine
Canadian health officials have authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, hailing the development as a “critical milestone” and paving the way for the inoculant to be administered across the country. The authorisation on Wednesday comes a day after the United Kingdom became the first country to begin giving the vaccine to the public. Emergency use authorisation (EUA) is also pending in the United States, with officials saying the first doses could be administered as early as next week. The US Food and Drug Administration is scheduled to consider its EUA on Thursday. Bahrain has also authorised the vaccine for public use. “Canadians can feel confident that the review process was rigorous and that we have strong monitoring systems in place,” Health Canada, the department responsible fo...
