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SCIENCEWednesday 6 January 2016

SpaceX’s returned booster rocket back in hangar

The used Falcon 9 first stage rocket is seen in a hangar at Cape Canaveral, Fla. This represents SpaceX’s first successful fly back and MARCIA DUNN
landing of a rocket booster. This leftover booster returned to land, following liftoff on a satellite-delivery mission, on Dec. 21, 2015. AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
(SpaceX via AP) (AP) — SpaceX’s booster
rocket, the Falcon, is back
in its nest following a histor-
ic landing.
The California company
led by Elon Musk shared
a picture of the returned
booster Sunday. The used
Falcon 9 is shown on its
side inside a hangar at
Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Musk says no damage was
found.
The booster carried satel-
lites aloft Dec. 21, and then
flew back to its specified
landing zone, a first for an
orbital mission. It landed
upright on legs.
Musk plans to fire the
booster again in a test to
demonstrate rocket reus-
ability. This particular boost-
er won’t fly again, given
its significance. Another
booster landing could oc-
cur as early as next month
on a space station supply
run for NASA.
SpaceX wants to reuse
rockets to save time and
money. q

FDA sets new rules for injury-prone pelvic mesh

MATTHEW PERRONE ceiving the implants. Those and promoted as a way to which the bladder or other FDA review before they
AP Health Writer complications sometimes speed patients’ recovery reproductive organs slip can be sold.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mesh require multiple surgeries time. But FDA advisers said out of place, causing pain, In a second rule, the FDA
implants used to repair pel- to remove or reposition the those benefits have not constipation and urinary is- said vaginal mesh will now
vic collapse in women will mesh. been established. sues. The mesh is often in- be classified as a “high-risk”
face new federal scrutiny, The new requirements do Patients have filed tens serted through the vagina, medical device, subject to
under rules responding to not apply to mesh products of thousands of lawsuits using a small surgical inci- additional regulatory re-
thousands of injuries report- when used to treat other against mesh manufactur- sion. The FDA action does quirements. Previously the
ed with the problem-prone conditions such as hernias ers, including Johnson & not apply to mesh inserted implants were considered
devices. or urinary incontinence. Johnson, Boston Scientific through the abdomen, an “moderate-risk” devices.
The Food and Drug Admin- The FDA action comes and Endo International. In alternate approach that The FDA first proposed the
istration said this week more than four years after 2014, Ireland-based Endo requires a larger incision. changes announced Mon-
that makers of pelvic mesh the agency concluded said it would pay $830 mil- Companies with products day in 2014 draft orders.
must submit new applica- that women getting vagi- lion to settle more than already on the market will Like most medical devices
tions demonstrating the nal mesh have more com- 20,000 personal injury law- have 30 months to submit sold in the U.S., pelvic mesh
safety and effectiveness of plications than women suits. their applications to the was originally cleared un-
their products. The change who undergo traditional Plastic mesh is often used FDA. Companies that want der a streamlined FDA re-
follows years of reports of surgery with stitches. Mesh to strengthen the pelvic to market new pelvic mesh view process for devices
pain, bleeding and infec- products were introduced wall in cases of so-called products will have to sub- deemed similar to older
tion among women re- for pelvic repair in the 1990s pelvic organ prolapse, in mit their applications for products.q