A committee of advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given its stamp of approval to an antitoxin designed to treat patients with botulism. In a unanimous decision announced last week, the 18-member Blood Products Advisory Committee voted to recommend the heptavalent botulinum antitoxin (HBAT), developed by a Canadian pharmaceutical company, to the federal agency for approval. HBAT is the only botulinum antitoxin currently available for use in the U.S. It is currently an investigational product controlled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors must seek a...