The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued another notice to healthcare professionals when simvastatin, a common medication for high cholesterol is used in combination with amiodarone, a drug that manages irregular heart beats.

Simvastatin is the generic name for the drug. It is sold under brand names Zocor, generic Zocor, or Vytorin and should be cautiously given to patients who are also taking amiodarone, a heart rhythm drug marketed as Cordarone or Pacerone

Whole Foods Market has announced a voluntary beef recall Friday because of concerns the meat might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The beef was sold between June 2 and Aug. 6 and was processed at Nebraska Beef plant, said a company spokesperson.

Health authorities have confirmed seven cases of E. coli infection linked to ground beef, all involving people who bought beef from Whole Foods. Five of those people have been hospitalized

At least 21 people, mostly children have died and more than 60 others are hospitalized after a suspected cholera outbreak in the southern Philippines, officials with the Red Cross said.

The outbreak began more than a week ago among Manobo tribesmen in an isolated area on the island of Mindanao and has spread to several remote mountainous hamlets near Palimbang town in Sultan Kudarat province, about 600 miles south of Manila

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved new strains of influenza vaccines for the 2008-09 flu season. The federal agency has changed all three strains for this year's vaccine.

Flu vaccines are altered every year, however, usually, only one or two strains change. This year, all three strains have been changed. Two of the three strains recommended for the United States this year are now in use for the Southern Hemisphere's 2008 flu season, which is underway, the FDA said on its Website

Despite being banned by the federal health agency, there has been a continued use of over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medications in children, new studies have shown.

There has been a sudden rise in the number of small children taken to the emergency room after they stop breathing or lose consciousness from consuming over-the-counter cold medications in their systems, two studies appearing in the August issue of Pediatrics say