Current medical news from today, including HHS Secretary Sebelius overrides the FDA on morning after pill, medical device stocks rebound after Medicare program announcement, and the FDA clears the first glucose monitor for the iPhone.

Merck (NYSE: MRK) has received complete letters from the US Food and Drug Administration for an oral contraceptive and eye treatment drug it markets in non-US countries it disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an indication that the FDA has declined to approve the drugs, according to Reuters.The Whitehouse Station, New [...]

For all the benefits of health technology, like speed, efficiency and effectiveness, it’s not perfect. A report by the ECRI Institute outlines what it sees as the biggest concerns for 2012 using criteria such as — can it kill, how frequently does the threat present itself and is it widespread?1. Medical devices equipped with alarms. [...]

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Bayer and J& J (NYSE: JNJ) drug Xarelto to treat atrial fibrillation, or abnormal heart rhythm.Earlier this year, Xarelto was approved for use as an anti-coagulant following knee or hip replacement surgery.In September scientists at the FDA recommended that the regulatory agency restrict use of the companies’ blood [...]

Endo Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ENDP) has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its drug Felodipine extended-release tablets, a generic version of AstraZeneca‘s (NYSE: AZN) drug, Plendil.The cardiovascular drug tallied $196 million in sales for AstraZeneca for the first nine months of 2011.The total sales for Felodipine in the U.S. for the 12 [...]

Insight Pharmaceuticals in Langhorne, Pennsylvania has voluntarily recalled one lot, or 34,092 bottles, of its Nostrilla Nasal Decongestant nasal spray, over concerns it may contain the bacteria Burkholderia cepacia, according to a statement from the company posted on the Food and Drug Administration’s website.The bacteria could cause serious infection in individuals with a compromised [...]