Content about director

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force on Monday issued a trio of controversial recommendations regarding supplementing with vitamin D and calcium. Specifically, the Task Force determined that the current evidence was insufficient to support vitamin D and calcium supplementation for the primary prevention of fractures in premenopausal women, in men or in postmenopausal women and recommended against daily supplementation of vitamin D or calcium toward that end. 

BOISE, Idaho — Albertsons named the division presidents who will lead the 877 stores it will acquire from Supervalu after the purchase agreement closes next month, the company said. The two companies agreed to the purchase in January.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — U.S. marshals, acting on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration, on Thursday seized tainted products from Globe All Wellness in Hollywood, Fla. The products may be unsafe because they contain an undisclosed active pharmaceutical ingredient.

JERUSALEM — Teva Pharmaceutical Industries has added a University of California at Los Angeles medical professor to its board of directors, the Israeli drug maker said.

Teva announced the appointment of Arie Belldegrun, who is a director at the UCLA Institute of Urology Oncology and professor and chair of urologic oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine. The company appointed Belldegrun at its Feb. 5 meeting to fill a vacancy, and Belldegrun's term will extend the drug maker's 2013 annual shareholder meeting.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Home nutrition support team interventions improved patient care and potentially prevented an estimated 429 hospital days over a three-month period, at a cost savings of more than $850,000, according to new data presented by Walgreens Infusion Services at the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Clinical Nutrition Week meeting Monday in Phoenix. 

GENEVA — Adults should consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium, or 5 grams of salt, and at least 3,510 mg of potassium per day, according to new guidelines issued by the World Health Organization last week. A person with either elevated sodium levels and low potassium levels could be at risk of raised blood pressure which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Currently, most people consume too much sodium and not enough potassium.

Rite Aid on Thursday announced the appointment of Yong Choe as VP federal affairs and public policy. Choe previously served as director of business outreach and member services for the Republican Study Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, and worked in various roles in the government affairs division of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores between 2003 and 2010. In his new position, he will report to EVP pharmacy Robert Thompson.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A new study indicated that some parents may not be sufficiently concerned about misuse of narcotic painkillers by children and teenagers.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Protein Sciences' Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology. 

ATLANTA — The worst of the flu season may be over, at least for those on the East Coast. In a late morning press conference with reporters on Friday, Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "We are seeing a decrease in some regions." 

Just don't tell that to anyone living in New York, Boston or Chicago, at least not before slipping on a facemask first.  

ATLANTA — The worst of the flu season may be over, at least for those in the South. In a late morning press conference with reporters, Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "We are seeing a decrease in some regions."

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Wegmans Food Markets on Thursday upgraded its complimentary shopper's app.