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Pharmaceutical
Certain seniors can drop thyroid meds – Dutch study
An open-label prospective study by Netherlands researchers found that a quarter of older adults on hypothyroidism medication were able to wean off the drug...
Fed-up SA drugmakers want nominal medicine price rise justified
The national Department of Health has been asked to explain how it devised this year’s minimal 1.47% increase for private sector medicine sales, with...
Pregnant women ignore experts, swayed by Trump’s autism theories
Despite the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the American Academy of Paediatrics emphasising that the science does not clearly tie Tylenol use...
FDA approves Lilly’s weight-loss pill in just 50 days
The FDA has expedited approval for Eli Lilly’s new weight-loss pill, which works like widely used injectable medications to mimic a natural hormone that...
FDA wants drug pulled, warns of fatal liver injuries
Eight deaths and dozens of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) cases have been linked to a medication the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) wants...
Eli Lilly to withdraw some insulin products from Europe
Eli Lilly is scaling back its insulin footprint in Europe, with plans to discontinue a swathe of products for “commercial reasons”, while increasingly leaning...
Weight-loss treatment on brink of another dramatic shift
Just 10 weeks after approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, the Wegovy weight-loss pill is now estimated to be part of the daily...
Ozempic goes generic for billions of people worldwide
Novo Nordisk is on the verge of losing patent protection for its blockbuster weight loss drug in India, China and several other nations, opening...
Victory for cancer victims as court allows generic medication
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ruled that the generic prostate cancer medication Enzutrix will remain available at an affordable price, following a...
Nursing staff accused of 'over-diagnosing' patients schizophrenic
Some nursing home staff in the United States are over-diagnosing their dementia patients with schizophrenia so they can prescribe antipsychotics and make them easier...
Weight-gain fears after stopping Ozempic unfounded – Cleveland Clinic study
Stopping popular weight-loss injections like Ozempic or Mounjaro might not trigger the dramatic kilogram-laden rebound many fear, according to a study of nearly 8...
Optimism that new drug could end sleeping sickness
Sleeping sickness is a notorious disease – a single bite from a tsetse fly carrying the parasite is all it takes to infect someone....
Guaranteed orders vital for anti-HIV jab production – Aspen
The country’s largest generic manufacturer, Aspen Pharmacare, has warned that local drugmakers will need guaranteed demand to produce Gilead’s twice-year HIV prevention shot lenacapavir,...
Non-hormonal drug for hot flushes now offered by NHS England
A non-hormonal drug for treating hot flushes and night sweats during menopause is now available on the NHS in England when HRT (hormone replacement...
Common drug class may increase heart disease risk – Swedish study
People who use drugs with anticholinergic effects, including certain anti-depressants, drugs for urinary incontinence and common antihistamines, could have a higher risk of developing...
Wegovy may have highest risk of blinding condition – Canadian study
The obesity drug semaglutide (Wegovy) conferred a significantly higher risk of ischaemic optic neuropathy (ION) than any other GLP-1 agonist, including semaglutide for diabetes...
Hospitals botching pain management – South African study
Most patients do not receive important pain treatment during and after surgery, reports GroundUp, with a recent local study – published in Lancet Africa...
Lilly warns of potentially toxic compounded tirzepatide
In an open letter last week, Eli Lilly warned that compounded versions of tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) containing vitamin B12 could pose a potential safety...
Rise in AMR threatens to outpace research and drug development
In the five years since the Access to Medicines Foundation released its last antimicrobial resistance benchmark, the pipeline for new projects in development has...
Dentists still prescribe risky ‘black box warning’ antibiotic
American dentists wrote more than 2.3m prescriptions last year for an antibiotic called clindamycin, whose label has carried a black box warning for more than four...
SA leading the charge for made-in-Africa anti-HIV jab
South Africa’s National Aids Council (Sanac) has asked local drug companies to submit applications by 7 April to make generic versions of the anti-HIV...
Cancer drug pulled from market over safety concerns
The cancer drug tazemetostat (Tazverik) is being voluntarily withdrawn in the United States and all other markets over concerns about secondary cancers, pharmaceutical company...
Higher risk of osteoporosis and gout with GLP drugs – US study
A large analysis has suggested that popular weight loss drugs may carry an increased risk to bone health, and conditions like osteoporosis, reports NBC...
Drug slashes Davet syndrome paediatric seizures by 90% – UK study
British scientists say an experimental drug is showing remarkable promise for children with Dravet syndrome – a severe and hard-to-treat genetic form of epilepsy...
Listed prices of Ozempic to be halved in 2027, says Novo
Novo Nordisk plans to slash prices of its listed price for weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus by up to...
Cipla joins legal challenge as Aids drug tender row escalates
The Department of Health’s controversial Aids drug tender is under fresh attack, after Cipla filed an application in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) last...
Pharmacist gets 10 years or R500 000 fine for GEMS fraud
A judge has given a pharmacy owner in Malamulele, Limpopo, a 10-year term behind bars or the option to pay a R500 000 fine,...
Migraine drug trial advances after positive results
Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck will advance the IV formulation of its migraine prevention drug to phase 3 trials after the successful phase 2b trial,...
More positive cancer drug data for auto-immune kidney disease
Continuing the reinvention of its cancer drug Gazyva as a treatment for immune-mediated diseases of the kidney – which resulted in a lupus nephritis...
Ancient bacteria strain found in ice resistant to antibiotics
In a fascinating discovery, scientists have found that ancient bacteria preserved in ice for thousands of years are unaffected by modern-day antibiotics, reports CNN.
In...
Controversial UK puberty blockers trial on hold after concerns
A clinical trial assessing the risks and benefits of puberty-blocking drugs in children questioning their gender has been paused after safety concerns were raised...
New drug holds promise for pre-eclampsia
A new drug for a dangerous condition that affects pregnant women, threatening not just their health but their babies’ lives as well, could transform...
WHO flags data risks with rapid escalation of AI in healthcare
A WHO report on a five-year digital transformation strategy framework was the focus of a debate last week over who owns the data in...
Surprising link between aspirin, cancer deaths – ASPREE trial follow-up
A team of researchers has suggested that low-dose aspirin was not associated with a reduced incidence of cancer in older adults, but was associated...
Statin pills safer than advertised, major British review finds
Cholesterol-lowering statins, used by millions, are far safer than previously thought, a major review has found, with the authors suggesting packaging leaflets should be...
Aids drug supply resumes as Barrs exits business rescue
Barrs Pharmaceuticals, which was unable to supply its share of the government’s Aids drug tender, has exited business rescue and sold a controlling stake...
FDA halts two gene therapy trials after child develops brain tumour
Two investigational gene therapies for rare paediatric diseases have been put on hold by the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) after a child...
Semaglutide shows heart benefits in key group – global study
An analysis by an international team of researchers has concluded that taking oral semaglutide may reduce heart-related hospitalisations and deaths among those with a...
SA sales of weight-loss drugs surge amid global rise in lawsuits
Sales of weight-loss drugs are sky-rocketing in South Africa, as it has in other parts of the world. But as the popularity of the...
CMS rules on healthcare products branding in Dis-Chem dispute
Dis-Chem has defended its health insurance partnership with Centriq and Kaelo insurance products, saying a recent regulatory ruling should be seen as a clarification...