The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved generic versions of the blood thinning drug Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate), which helps reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke by making it less likely that platelets in the blood will clump and form clots in the arteries. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care professionals and patients about injuries and death associated with the use of an experimental procedure sometimes called "liberation therapy" or the "liberation procedure" to treat chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic versions of Boniva (ibandronate) tablets, a once-monthly product to treat or prevent osteoporosis in women after menopause. Important safety changes to the labeling for some widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are being announced today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a series of steps to increase the supply of critically needed cancer drugs and build on President Obama's Executive Order to help prevent future drug shortages. 
The European Medicines Agency and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are launching an initiative to share work on inspections of manufacturing sites in each other's territories. The initiative, starting in January 2012, will enable the two authorities to rely on each other's inspection outcomes rather than carrying out separate inspections in duplicate. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first generic version of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium tablets). Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. has gained approval to make generic atorvastatin calcium tablets in 10 milligram, 20 mg, 40 mg, and 80 mg strengths.