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Pharmaceutical
SA study highlights need to monitor IV antibiotic use in hospitals
The findings of a study analysing intravenous (IV) antibiotic usage in a private mining hospital in North West Province have emphasised the need for...
Male birth control pill passes first safety test in men
American researchers have announced that an experimental pill for men that works by blocking sperm production has just passed its first safety test in...
FDA panel punts stronger warnings for anti-depressants in pregnancy
Over nearly four decades since Prozac was approved for the treatment of depression, waves of concern about the effects of anti-depressants during pregnancy have...
Regulator slashes approval time for local drugmakers
The SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has pledged to expedite its evaluation of locally manufactured drugs and vaccines by prioritising the registration of...
SA cancer drugs not linked to Lancet findings – SAHPRA
The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) has clarified that recent findings published in The Lancet about substandard cancer drugs have no bearing...
British study downplays severity of antidepressant withdrawal
Few practices in mental health are debated more than the long-term use of antidepressant medications.
A reassessment began in 2019, when two British researchers published...
New flu drug may work better than influenza vaccines – US trial
A new influenza drug that lasts for an entire flu season may outperform flu vaccines, according to the results of a large phase 2b...
First trimester UTI meds raises birth defects risks – US cohort study
A recent study suggests the risk of antibiotic use during the first trimester of pregnancy was higher for infants exposed to TMP-SMX versus β-lactam...
First malaria drug for newborns and babies approved
Novartis has received approval in Switzerland for Coartem Baby, the first drug to treat malaria in babies and very young children, with eight African countries...
FDA failures in policing Indian manufacturers of generics
When an American man’s transplanted kidney failed far earlier than might reasonably be expected, it led ProPublica into the sometimes murky world of Indian...
FDA under fire as discrepancies found in heart drug approval trials
Fresh concerns have emerged about the platelet studies underpinning the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of ticagrelor, AstraZeneca’s multibillion-dollar heart drug, after a...
Physicians urge farewell to Benadryl
A paper calling for a “final goodbye” to diphenhydramine – best known as Benadryl, and one of the oldest, but not the safest drugs...
Common bone medications linked to serious jaw disease – Finnish study
Certain medications used in the treatment of bone conditions, particularly when combined with corticosteroids, may significantly increase the risk of a rare but serious...
Triptan safe in pregnancy, Norwegian study finds
Prenatal exposure to triptans, alone or with other migraine medications, was not linked to a significantly increased risk for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in children...
Family in battle with medical scheme to cover rare cancer drug
The family of an Eastern Cape man is squaring up to take on the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS), after an unsuccessful struggle to have...
Common UTI drugs may be tied to cancer, warn experts
A medication commonly used to treat urinary tract infections may be accompanied by a potential cancer risk, suggest experts, who have flagged the active...
Body weight counts with antibiotics, Dutch study finds
With the increased girth of much of the world’s population, and rising obesity even in youngsters, global investigators say a person’s weight could have...
Risks of stopping beta-blockers after heart attack – French trial
Researchers have found that interruption of beta-blocker treatment after an uncomplicated myocardial infarction (MI) leads to sustained increases in blood pressure and heart rate,...
SA may have long wait for promising new gonorrhoea drugs
Two new antibiotics offer hope for people with gonorrhoea that is resistant to currently available drugs, yet it might be years before these drugs...
Lawsuits mount as weight-loss drug users lose vision
More than a dozen lawsuits have been filed on behalf of weight-loss drug users who claim that popular weight-loss medications like Ozempic have caused a...
FDA approves new drug for lung cancer
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new medication from biotech company AbbVie that treats adults with a type of lung cancer who...
The consequences of abruptly quitting anti-depressants
Specific medications that treat disorders like anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia can be hugely effective – but stopping them abruptly can compound users’ symptoms and...
EU regulator adds suicide warning for hair loss, prostate treatments
The European Union’s drug regulator has warned that a medication to treat men’s hair loss has a rare risk of suicidal thoughts, and although...
Call for action on booming fake drugs trade in SA
Counterfeit pharmaceutical product sales from online platforms and vendors are skyrocketing in South Africa, according to a newly-released independent report, which has called for...
Gilead forks out $200m settlement after kickbacks to doctors
Pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences has settled a massive civil lawsuit and admitted to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars and kickbacks in the form...
The price of cancer remission with controversial drug
When American David Armstrong was diagnosed with myeloma cancer, he set out to understand why a single pill of Revlimid cost the same as...
Weight-loss jabs could halve obesity-linked cancer risks – Israeli study
Weight-loss jabs could almost halve the risk of obesity-related cancers, a landmark study has suggested, with experts calling the findings “transformational”, and saying they...
WHO backs global use of weight-loss drugs
Marking a shift in its approach to treating the global health problem, the World Health Organisation will officially back using weight-loss drugs to treat...
Semaglutide effective for fatty liver disease – phase 3 trial
Semaglutide is not only hugely effective for weight loss and diabetes but it has now been found effective for people who have developed liver...
Weight loss pills a win for obesity in poor countries – experts
Newly developed weight loss pills could have a big impact on tackling obesity and diabetes in low- and middle-income countries, experts say, because not...
US pharmacy chain forks out $350m in opioid script settlement
Walgreens, the second largest pharmacy chain in the United States, has agreed to pay up to $350m in a settlement with the Department of...
Antibiotic resistance risking SA’s newborns’ lives
Experts say bacterial infections are responsible for more infant deaths than is generally recognised, and that things may get worse as more of the...
Anti-smoking pill helps youngsters stop vaping – US trial
A recent clinical trial showed that teens and young adults who took varenicline – an FDA-approved, twice-daily smoking cessation pill for adults – are...
SADC harmonised medicines regulatory initiative a lesson for Africa
The ZaZiBoNa initiative to harmonise the regional registration of requirements for pharmaceutical products has saved time and costs for manufacturers and applicants in the SADC...
China poised to take advantage of Africa’s rising pharma market
Africa’s pharmaceutical sector is witnessing an influx of foreign interest, with Chinese companies leading the charge. This surge comes as Africa’s $25bn pharmaceutical market...
Indian firm recalls two dozen medications sold to US patients
FDA inspectors found serious problems at a Glenmark Pharmaceuticals factory in India that manufactured two dozen recalled drugs, while another medication made there has...
Lilly to seek approval for daily GLP-1 weight-loss, diabetes pill
Eli Lilly plans to seek FDA approval for its once daily GLP-1 pill – the oral version of its Zepbound and Mounjaro – after the...
Biggest threat to antibiotic resistance not script-happy GPs
To prevent a catastrophic failure of the drugs on which modern medicine relies and is completely dependent, look to animal farming in middle-income countries,...
Drug-resistant infections killed 3m children worldwide
A landmark study presented this week at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) in Vienna has revealed that more than...
New NICE antibiotic guidelines for babies, children with pneumonia
Babies and children aged between three months and 11-years-old with pneumonia should be offered a three-day rather than five-day course of antibiotics, suggest new...