Weekly Roundup – 2/9/07

Well, it was frigid here inside the Beltway this week, and on Capitol Hill where our Senators got together and argued all week about a non-binding resolution expressing displeasure with the war, but failed to accomplish anything.  Still, 10% of this body consider themselves eligible for your vote for President.  Go figure. 

By the way, instead of our usual cowboy motif for the Weekly Roundup Picture, today is the first anniversary of Eye on FDA!  So … cake and a candle. 

And the roundup:

• Online Drug Safety Tutorial from MedWatch – The FDA has posted a new online tutorial for drug safety in the MedWatch program.  This is another example of FDA getting involved in new media to deliver its message.  According to the site, the primary audience for this course content is healthcare professional students in medical, nursing, pharmacy, dental and allied healthcare training programs.  Secondary audiences include healthcare professional practitioners, caregivers and healthcare service consumers.   The course and quiz take one hour. 
• The Skinny on Orlistat – The FDA has approved the switch of orlistat from RX to OTC for weight loss.  According to the press release "Orlistat was initially approved in 1999 as a prescription drug to treat obesity, and remains a prescription drug for obesity at a higher dose than the OTC version.  OTC orlistat will be manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline under the name Alli…"
• New Test for Breast Cancer – The FDA announced the first molecular test to profile genetic activity will help predict the likelihood of cancer returning to a patient after an initial cancer diagnosis and treatment. 
• Survey on Pharma Blogs – John Mack at the Pharma Marketing Blog, a link to which is on the Blog Roll of Eye on FDA, is currently conducting a survey regarding opinions and outlooks on blogs.  Eye on FDA is one of the blogs included in the survey.  Therefore, if you are so moved, I invite you to go to the survey site and provide your opinions about this and other-related blogs.  If you are so inclined, I welcome your support.  To participate in the survey, click here:

Have a good weekend everyone!