Teva recalls U.S.-made drugs following contamination fears
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., one of the largest generic drugmakers in the world, has recalled more than 2.5 million vials of drugs that the company said may not be sterile. The vials, many filled with medicine used to help treat cancer, may have contained mold contamination stemming from water leaks, U.S. inspectors discovered at a Teva production plant in California.
The company has temporarily stopped drug production at the Irvine, California, facility and is reviewing the concerns raised by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Teva email response to Bloomberg.
Teva recalled about 1 million of the vials in February, more than four months after it first detected mold in the air of manufacturing areas. The generic drug giant yanked the rest of the drugs, almost 1.5 million vials, in July in the middle of an FDA inspection that found Teva left water damage unrepaired, likely creating mold in the walls. The inspection also found the company hadn’t maintained procedures meant to keep factory workers from spreading mold and bacteria, according to inspection documents obtained by Bloomberg in response to a Freedom of Information request.
Biden lifts abortion referral ban on family planning clinics
The Biden administration on Monday reversed a ban on abortion referrals by family planning clinics, lifting a Trump-era restriction as political and legal battles over abortion grow sharper from Texas to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Department of Health and Human Services said its new regulation will restore the federal family planning program to the way it ran under the Obama administration, when clinics were able to refer women seeking abortions to a provider.
Groups representing the clinics said they hope the Biden administration action will lead hundreds of service providers that left in protest over Trump’s policies to return, helping to stabilize a longstanding program that has been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic on top of ideological battles.
Ship’s anchor among possible causes of California oil spill
Officials investigating one of California’s largest oil spills are looking into whether a ship’s anchor may have struck a pipeline on the ocean floor, causing a major leak of crude, authorities said.
The head of the company that operates the pipeline said divers have examined more than 8,000 feet of pipe and are focusing on “one area of significant interest.”
An anchor striking the pipeline is “one of the distinct possibilities” behind the leak, Amplify Energy CEO Martyn Willsher told a news conference.
Coast Guard officials said cargo ships entering the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach routinely pass through the area.
“We’re looking into if it could have been an anchor from a ship, but that’s in the assessment phase right now,” said Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jeannie Shaye.
Treasury to shift rental assistance to places with demand
The Treasury Department on Monday announced plans to start reallocating the billions of dollars in federal rental assistance in a bid to get more money into the hands of tenants facing eviction.
The move, which was required by Congress when it allocated the monies, follows the slow distribution of rental assistance in many parts of the country. A little more than 16.5% of the tens of billions of dollars in federal assistance reached tenants in August, compared with 11% a month earlier.
Lawmakers have approved $46.5 billion in spending on rental assistance, and the Treasury is targeting the first tranche of money known as ERA1.
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