FDA uses new authority to order Amgen to re-word drug label

The New York Times reported on July 31 that the FDA had ordered the company to change the label on its flagship anemia drugs.  The new labels will direct that treatment only be afforded if hemoglobin drops below 10 mg per deciliter and that they should not be used at all where chemotherapy is being used to cure patients, rather than simply to extend the patient's life.  The drugs are Aranesp and Procrit, and studies have suggested that they may actually make cancer worse or shorten lives.