Food and Drug Administration

The pharmaceutical giant and partner BioNTech announced Friday that they are submitting a formal request to the Food and Drug Administration, just days after the vaccine was shown to be 95% effective.

The Federal Trade Commission issued warning letters to several companies that marketed an unproven drug to treat COVID-19. Sales of the nonapproved drug, thymosin alpha-1, were first reported by NPR.

The Food and Drug Administration's chief said Sunday the therapy reduces deaths among COVID-19 patients by 35%. On Monday he apologized, acknowledging that statistic greatly exaggerates any benefit.

Three members of the White House coronavirus task force — FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, CDC Director Robert Redfield and Director Anthony Fauci — are isolating themselves for two weeks.

The agency said Friday that using hydroxychloroquine and a related compound, chloroquine, for COVID-19 may cause life-threatening side effects. That warning contradicts the president's own enthusiasm.

Major pharmacies had already pulled the popular heartburn drug and its generic equivalents due to a contaminant. Now the Food and Drug Administration says definitively they should not be sold or used.

The tests will likely find infections around the country — including cases that had gone undetected. The CDC says it has enough kits to test at least 75,000 people and that more are on order.

Changes in the way the Food and Drug Administration reviews new medicines means that there are more cures and treatments on the market. But there's also less proof the drugs are safe and effective.

An expert panel wants the Food And Drug Administration to withdraw its approval for Makena, because a large study shows the drug doesn't work. But some doctors say the evidence isn't clear-cut.

Health and Human Services outlined two pathways for importing the drugs to the U.S., a plan Secretary Alex Azar says is intended to "lower prices and reduce out of pocket costs for American patients."

The federal government issued warnings to companies that sell vaping liquids, saying they are in violation of federal regulations due to packages that appear to market to children or teens.