Español You inherit more than your eye and hair color from your family. You can also inherit a predisposition for diabetes, a disease that disproportionally affects racial and ethnic minorities. The Office of Minority Health (OMH) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is building relationships with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and other groups…

Español If you eat meat or drink milk, you want to know: Are there trace amounts of the veterinary drugs used in food-producing animals entering your diet? And if they are, are the amounts safe for human consumption? Those questions—among others—are the concern of the Division of Residue Chemistry, which is part of FDA’s Center…

Español  Subscribe: FDA Consumer Health Information When a baby is teething, many a mom or dad reaches for a pain remedy containing benzocaine to help soothe sore gums.  Benzocaine is a local anesthetic and can be found in such over-the-counter (OTC) products as Anbesol, Hurricaine, Orajel, Baby Orajel, and Orabase. But the use of benzocaine…

Español Anyone who operates a vehicle of any type—car, bus, train, plane, or boat—needs to know there are over-the-counter medicines that can make you drowsy and can affect your ability to drive and operate machinery safely. Over-the-counter medicines are also known as OTC or nonprescription medicines. All these terms mean the same thing: medicines that…

[embedded content] Spanish Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, resulting in more than 480,000 deaths annually. Almost 70 percent of current smokers report wanting to quit smoking, but quitting can be hard and often takes multiple attempts. A variety of FDA-approved medications are available to help people successfully…

Biological products often represent the cutting edge of medical science and research. Also known as biologics, these products replicate natural substances such as enzymes, antibodies, or hormones in our bodies. Biological products can be composed of sugars, proteins, or nucleic acids, or a combination of these substances. They may also be living entities, such as…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is building a coalition of public and private healthcare organizations to prevent a medical error—the surgical fire. A surgical fire is a fire that occurs in, on or around a patient undergoing a medical or surgical procedure.  An estimated 550 to 650 surgical fires happen every year in U.S….