HomePharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical
Move to quit psychiatric medication gains momentum
American author Laura Delano walked away from the treatments that defined her teens and 20s. Now, she’s hoping to create a road map for...
Patients floored by drug’s ‘deviant behaviour’ side effect
British patients whose doctors prescribed them drugs for restless legs syndrome (RLS) said they were not warned about the significant side effects of the...
MS patients in England in line for take-at-home pill
Thousands of NHS patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in England are to become the first in Europe to benefit from a major roll-out of...
ADHD scripts in England up by 18% each year since pandemic
The number of prescriptions being issued in England for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication has risen by 18% year-on-year since the pandemic, with...
High wastage of anaesthetic drugs in SA theatre – Bara study
Reducing anaesthetic drug wastage in hospitals is crucial for improving operating room efficiency and controlling costs, particularly in developing countries where resources are limited,...
FDA expands access for schizophrenia drug
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has eliminated a longstanding requirement that patients taking clozapine, an anti-psychotic used for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, to submit...
Why you shouldn’t take old medicine – and what not to do with it
Using expired medication and disposing of it unsafely comes with significant health, economic and environmental risks, warns pharmacy Professor Renier Coetzee, who is also...
NHS warning after deaths tied to obesity drugs
The medical director of the NHS has warned that 82 people in the UK have died after taking drugs for diabetes and weight loss,...
WHO launches free cancer meds for children in low-income countries
The World Health Organisation has launched a new platform providing cost-free cancer medicines for thousands of children living in low- and middle-income countries, whose...
Study flags risks of taking seniors off blood thinners
Clinicians often worry about prescribing blood thinning medications to older patients because of concerns about falls and major bleeding, but research in England suggests...
FDA places two Indian manufacturers on import alerts
The FDA has prohibited two Indian API manufacturers from shipping products to the US, with the agency reporting it found bare footprints in one...
FDA green-lights rapid-acting insulin biosimilar product
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Merilog (insulin-aspart-szjj) as a biosimilar to Novolog (insulin aspart) for the improvement of glycaemic control...
FDA alert for mix-ups tied to spinal jabs
The US Food & Drug Administration says it continues to receive reports of tranexamic acid injection being erroneously administered intrathecally instead of the intended...
Common painkiller in pregnancy tied to ADHD risk – US study
Children may have a higher risk of developing ADHD if their mothers used paracetamol – also known as acetaminophen – during pregnancy, adding weight...
UK regulator updates valproate advisory
A reminder advisory has been issued for healthcare professionals by Britain’s Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency regarding valproate (Belvo, Convulex, Depakote, Dyzantil, Epilim,...
Chinese regulator defends quality of local generic drugs
China’s healthcare regulator has defended the efficacy of off-patent medicines it had approved to be distributed through the country’s state hospitals – after complaints...
Which breakthrough weight-loss medicines are available in SA?
The remarkable efficacy of new diabetes and weight-loss medicines like Ozempic and Mounjaro have been one of the biggest health stories of recent years....
Drugs that cause more harm than good – latest watch list
Many drugs that have been marketed for decades have become such a part of routine practice that they are taken for granted. Some are...
Pharmacists obliged to dispense abortion drugs if prescribed, council warns
The South African Pharmacy Council (SAPC) has issued a notice confirming pharmacists may not – based on personal beliefs, moral reasons or religious grounds...
Steroids in pregnancy tied to brain disorder risks – Danish cohort study
Scientists from Denmark who analysed data from more than 1m births have suggested that children exposed to glucocorticoids prenatally may have an increased risk...
UK regulator tightens pharmacy rules for weight-loss jabs
Britain’s pharmacy regulator has adopted more stringent prescription measures to prevent medicines from being supplied “inappropriately”, meaning people will no longer be able to...
Major review shows common meds linked to reduced dementia risk
In the largest systematic review of its kind, covering more than 1m cases of dementia from the records of more than 130m people, researchers...
Japan approves mpox drug that failed two efficacy trials
Approval granted earlier this month by Japan’s regulatory agency for the antiviral drug tecovirimat – also known as TPOXX – for the treatment of...
Actress' ‘moon face’ linked to steroid disorder
Long-term use of steroidal medicine can lead to a little known, rare condition called Cushing’s syndrome, experts have warned, after an American actress/comedian was...
Higher Wegovy dose sheds more kilos – Novo trial
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has said a higher dose of its drug Wegovy led to greater weight loss in patients during a late-stage trial, but...
Watchdog alert over FDA’s fast-track drug approvals
A new report from the US Department of Health & Human Services’ Office of Inspector General has raised concerns about the FDA’s accelerated approval...
Paracetamol pack sizes reduced in Australia
In new harm-reduction measures from next month, packs of paracetamol sold in Australia will contain fewer tablets, both in pharmacies and other outlets.
The Therapeutic...
Major US review maps effectiveness of GLP-1 drugs
A study by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs on the relationship between GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and 175 diseases and conditions supports a...
FDA adds Guillain-Barre alert for RSV jabs
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a safety alert linking possible Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) with two respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines...
Pharmacy middlemen charged with inflating drug prices
America’s three largest pharmacy benefit managers have been accused by the Federal Trade Commission of significantly marking up the prices of certain medicines, including...
Lilly hopes for 2026 approval for new weight loss pill
Eli Lilly expects its experimental weight loss pill – orforglipron – to be approved as early next year, and plans to release key late-stage...
New dementia drugs still won’t be accessible to the poorest
Experts say that treatment to prevent Alzheimer’s or lessen its effects are on the horizon as the fight against dementia enters a “new era”,...
Antibiotic crisis ‘could claim 40m lives’, warns UK expert
As superbugs spread across the globe, death rates from antimicrobial resistance are likely to double over the next 25 years, with senior citizens especially...
Small cost hikes on US drugs, but steeper launch prices
Although pharmaceutical companies in America pushed up the prices of at least 250 branded medications from 1 January, including Pfizer’s Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid, Bristol...
Danish studies flag rare optic nerve damage with Ozempic
Scientists involved in two large studies suggest their findings confirm that diabetes medication Ozempic doubles the risk of developing non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy...
Weight-loss meds go head-to-head in new study
In the first head-to-head comparison test, people using Eli Lilly’s obesity medicine Zepbound shed nearly 23kg while those using competitor Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy dropped...
Cancer drug combo almost halves blood cancer death risk
The experimental cancer drug Blenrep, in combination with other treatments, reduced the risk of death by 42% in multiple myeloma, a common type of...
No red flags with non-hormonal menopause drug phase 3b trial
Results from a phase 3 randomised controlled trial of the non-hormonal drug Fezolinetant (45mg once daily) found the treatment to be efficacious and well...
Kenya’s balancing act with addictive natural stimulant
Amid growing concerns about muguka, a highly addictive variant of the natural stimulant khat, Kenya needs evidence-based regulations to balance public health and economic...
Killer opioid fentanyl detected in SA drug users
Recent drug tests have found people at South African clinics testing positive for fentanyl – the potent opioid causing tens of thousands of deaths...