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CHANDLER, Ariz. (EGMN) Nearly a third of patients with laryngeal cancer who underwent therapy that was designed to preserve their larynx were still alive and cancer free with an intact and functioning larynx 5 years later, French researchers report.

A multisite randomized controlled trial comparing carotid endarterectomy with implantation of a carotid artery stent has shown the more invasive surgical procedure to be the safer and more effective at least in the short term.

SILVER SPRING, Md. (EGMN) A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Feb. 23 voted 14 to 4 that the risk-benefit profile of the oral antibiotic rifaximin supported its approval as a treatment to reduce the risk of developing episodes of overt hepatic encephalopathy in adults with chronic liver disease.

Information about potential risks of renal impairment, renal failure, hepatic impairment, hepatic failure, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage appear in a boxed warning that was added to the prescribing information of the iron chelating agent deferasirox in January.

A story titled FDA Requires Risk Management Plan for Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents (published Feb. 17, 2010) misstated the deadline date for clinicians toenroll in a certification program monitored by Amgen Inc. That date isFeb. 16, 2011.

The Food and Drug Administration is requiring major changes to the prescribing information of inhaled long-acting beta agonists as part of a risk management plan to address the ongoing safety issues associated with the products use in children and adults with asthma, the agency announced at a Feb. 18 press briefing.