{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02361111111111111, 'fraction_numerical': 0.006944444444444444, 'mean_word_length': 4.722222222222222, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
FDA bars own expert from evaluating risks of painkillers

The US Food and Drug Administration has barred one of its own experts from serving on the panel considering the safety of cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX 2) inhibitors after he made remarks indicating that valdecoxib (Bextra) may—like rofecoxib (Vioxx), which was recently withdrawn from the market by Merck—cause heart attacks and strokes.

Dr Curt Furberg, a member of the FDA's drug safety advisory committee and a prominent authority on drug safety, was told his invitation to participate in FDA hearings on the safety of COX 2 inhibitors had been rescinded. This followed his being quoted in the New York Times on 10 November as saying that a study that he and his …