US Senators Ask For a Review of Posilac (rBGH) Which is Suspected of Causing Breast & Prostate Cancer
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Senators want review of growth hormone's FDA approval
Excerpted from Reuters News, December 15, 1998
WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Senators from the U.S. dairy state of Vermont
last month asked Health Secretary Donna Shalala to review a federal approval
of a bovine growth hormone, a spokesman for one of the senators said on
Tuesday. Republican Senator Jim Jeffords and Democrat Patrick Leahy, had
urged Shalala to investigate whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) had correctly appraised studies on the safety of the genetically
engineered bovine growth hormone recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST).
....
Canadian authorities reviewing an application for use of the growth hormone in
Canada have raised questions about one of the studies the FDA cited when it
gave Monsanto Inc. permission to market rBST in the United States. Canadian
scientists said the study, prepared by the company itself, included
evidence that 20-30 percent of test rats given high doses of the hormone
showed signs of the chemical entering their blood streams. Some of the rats
developed cysts and prostate problems, the researchers found, concluding that
more studies were needed on the long-term effect of rBST use. They also raised
questions about the effect of the drug on cows.