Safety-related news and updates on:
• use of cold medicines in infants & toddlers; 
• blackbox warning for on rosiglitazone (Avandia) & pioglitazone (Actos)
• diabetics face greater risk of death from heart attacks.

• FDA: Don't Give Cold Medicines to Infants

The government is warning parents not to give cough and cold medicines to children under age 2 without a doctor's order. The warning is part of a broad reassessment of the safety of these medicines by the Food and Drug Administration. Inappropriate use of cold and cough medications in children has lead to hundreds of adverse reactions, and several deaths, the FDA says.
                                                                           Adapted from The New York Times

• Diabetes Drugs to Include New Warnings
The makers of rosiglitazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos) have agreed to add black box warnings about the risk of heart failure the medications may have for some patients. The warnings also apply to combination drugs that include the active ingredients in Avandia. A separate review by the Food and Drug Administration reports cases of significant weight gain, and fluid build-up as potential side effects for some patients taking the diabetes drugs.
                                                                             Adapted from The Boston Globe

• Heart Attacks Deadlier for Diabetics: JAMA
A large analysis of clinical studies confirms what doctors have long known: People who have diabetes are at much greater risk of dying after a heart attack than those who don't have the disease, according researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers also suggest that advances in cardiac care are not enough to offset the damage of diabetes.
                                                                              Adapted from USA Today