NEW YORK

Regulators OK pill to treat common type of skin cancer

Federal regulators Monday approved a pill that treats the most common type of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma.

The pill is called Erivedge and is made by Genentech, a unit of Swiss drugmaker Roche. Erivedge is intended to treat locally advanced cancer for patients who are not candidates for surgery or radiation, and for patients whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body. The capsule is taken once per day.

Genentech said Erivedge is the first drug approved to treat advanced basal cell carcinoma. It said the drug will be available within two weeks.

The drug’s label will warn that it is linked to fetal death and severe birth defects when it is used by pregnant women. The most common side effects of Erivedge include muscle spasms, hair loss, weight loss, diarrhea, fatigue, changes or loss in sense of taste, decreased appetite, constipation and vomiting.

WASHINGTON

Senate advances bill to ban insider trading by Congress

Congress is rushing to make it absolutely clear to everyone that its members are banned from insider stock trading, hoping to improve their sagging image that has approval ratings at historic lows.

Senators made the first move Monday. Their 93-2 procedural vote cleared the way for Senate passage – possibly later this week – of a bill that would require disclosure of stock transactions within 30 days and explicitly prohibit members of Congress from initiating trades based on non-public information they acquired in their official capacity.

The legislation, at least partly symbolic in nature, is aimed at answering critics who say lawmakers profit from businesses where they have special knowledge.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine both support the legislation. Collins is the top Republican on the committee that cleared the bill for floor action.

Collins said in a statement that the bill contains an amendment added by her and committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., making it clear that lawmakers and congressional staff are not exempt from insider trading laws.

Snowe said in a statement that “when citizens are elected and sent to Congress, they are given a sacred public trust to serve the country, not to use inside information to enrich themselves.”