Washington, DC - FDA In Brief: FDA takes steps to allow greater flexibility for clinical investigators about informed consent in minimal risk situations:

San Diego, California - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned StemGenex Biologic Laboratories LLC (StemGenex) of San Diego; its owner/manager Rita F. Alexander and laboratory and medical director Jenny R. Galloway, M.D. about marketing a purported stem cell product without FDA approval and for significant deviations from current good manufacturing practice requirements, including some that could lead to microbial contamination, putting patients at risk.

Escondido, California - Two young elephant calves at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park enjoyed a high-spirited play session this morning (Nov. 12, 2018). While their mothers and the rest of their herd ate fresh browse and hay, the 3-month-old male calf Umzula-zuli (“Zuli,” for short) and the almost 2-month-old female calf Mkhaya (called “Kaia”) engaged in some friendly sparring, pushing, head-butting, climbing and tugging behavior.

Washington, DC - The United States joins our European Allies and partners in condemning the November 11 sham “elections” in Russia-controlled eastern Ukraine. Yesterday’s illegitimate processes were an attempt by Moscow to institutionalize its Donbas proxies, the so-called “Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.” These entities have no place within the Minsk agreements or within Ukraine’s constitutional government, and they should be dismantled along with the illegal armed formations.

New Orleans, Louisiana - November 14 is World Diabetes Day, a reminder of how deeply connected our global food system is with human health.

San Jose, California - A federal grand jury issued an indictment against Salil Parulekar today, charging him with engaging in an embezzlement scheme, announced United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.