Washington, D.C.: Government approves first generic Accutane

Sufferers of serious acne will soon be able to buy the first generic version of the drug Accutane :quot; if they follow strict rules designed to keep the birth defect-causing drug out of pregnant women’s hands.

Health officials have worked for years to associate the name Accutane with birth defects so women know not to use it if there’s a chance they can get pregnant. Generic drugs are sold under a medication’s chemical name :quot; in this case isotretinoin :quot; so the question now is whether doctors and women will make that crucial connection.

“One of our biggest concerns was that because they’ll have different names, that may lead to confusion,” said Dr. Sandra Kweder of the Food and Drug Administration, which approved sale of the generic version late Friday.

Accutane is not for routine pimples, but for treating the most serious form of acne. Among its side effects are serious birth defects and fetal death. There is also a possible but unproven link to depression and suicide.

Washington, D.C.: TV shows needn’t accommodate blind

An appeals court on Friday threw out Federal Communications Commission rules requiring television programs to include oral descriptions of the action on the screen.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Congress did not give the FCC the power to order what is known as “video description” when it asked the agency to study the issue of accommodating the blind.

Under video description, a narrator describes the action during natural pauses between dialogue. The description is available on a secondary channel. The FCC had ordered the four major commercial networks :quot; CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox :quot; to provide such programming.

The Motion Picture Association of America challenged the rules in court, claiming the FCC was not authorized to issue them. The appeals court agreed.