Health Highlights: April 21, 2015

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Bill Would Require FDA to Study Ingredients in Cosmetics, Personal Care Products

A bill requiring the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to assess ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products such as skin cream and shampoo was introduced Monday by two senators.

The FDA would have to evaluate at least five ingredients a year and determine whether they should continue to be used, and if so, and what concentrations, the Associated Press reported.

Federal regulations of ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products have not been updated for 75 years, according to bill sponsors Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California and Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine.

“From shampoo to lotion, the use of personal care products is widespread, however, there are very few protections in place to ensure their safety,” Feinstein said in a news release, the AP reported.

The bill is supported by a number of consumer groups and large companies that make cosmetics and personal care products.

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Dr. Oz to Respond to Criticisms

A rebuttal against allegations that he promotes “quack treatments” is scheduled to be aired on Dr. Mehmet Oz’s TV show Thursday.

His taped statement is in response to a letter sent last week by 10 doctors and professors to Columbia University demanding that Oz be removed from the faculty. The letter accused Oz of “an egregious lack of integrity,” CBS News reported.

One part of the letter states: “Dr. Oz has repeatedly shown disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine, as well as baseless and relentless opposition to the genetic engineering of food crops.”

One of the letter’s authors is Dr. Henry Miller, a researcher at the Hoover Institution, a conservative think tank. Miller is a strong supporter of genetically modified foods, CBS News reported.

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