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Pharmacology
FDA issues compounded ketamine products warning
The US Food & Drug Administration has flagged the increasing use of compounded ketamine products for treating disorders like depression, anxiety, PTSD and OCD,...
Vast majority of ‘penicillin allergies’ are just antibiotic side-effects
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) warns in a review that 90% of people who think they are allergic to penicillin are not – they...
Greenlight for alopecia drug after trial results
The European Commission has authorised the marketing of ritlecitinib to treat adults and adolescents 12 and older with severe alopecia areata, the first medicine...
Unequal global morphine access flagged by WHO
The World Health Organisation has revealed huge discrepancies in the distribution of morphine around the world in a recent report, calling the issue a...
Global race heats up for weight-loss drug pill
Pfizer is to move forward with an oral version of an Ozempic-like drug candidate and drop another, while Eli Lilly has released trial results...
Improper antibiotic scripts for children rife in poor countries
A study by French experts has found the prescribing of inappropriate antibiotics for children is extensive in the three low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)...
New antibiotics vital to stem newborn deaths
Experts have urged the development of new antibiotics after a landmark global observational study found that more than 200 000 neonates (within 60 days...
Pfizer’s RSV vaccine for older adults approved by FDA
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the green light for a second vaccine to fight respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSV), with...
South Africa in phase three trial to combat global gonorrhoea threat
South Africa is one of five countries involved in a phase three trial to develop a first-in- class antibiotic for gonorrhoea – one of...
Experimental haemophilia drug slows bleeding – Pfizer
A new experimental haemophilia treatment from Pfizer has showed promise in reducing patients’ bleeding rates, the company said this week, with a late stage...
Pfizer to launch generic and chewable Viagra
Pfizer, which in 2024 begins to lose its exclusive patent rights to its pioneering erectile dysfunction drug, will launch a generic version of Viagra in...
Abandoned World War 2 drug a potential to fight drug-resistant bacteria
Despite development of the antibiotic nourseothricin being halted decades ago due to potential toxicity to kidneys, researchers say the abandoned, 80-year-old antibiotic could be...
Half of obese teens on Wegovy return to normal weight – STEP TEENS trial
In what researchers describe as unprecedented, the drug Wegovy (semaglutide) reduced the weight of nearly 50% of teenagers “to a level below what is...
FDA approves Japan’s Alzheimer’s agitation drug
The first approved drug for agitation in Alzheimer’s patients has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, with Otsuka Pharmaceuticals’ brexpiprazole being...
Self-harm risk high immediately after starting antidepressants – US analysis
Patients who take antidepressants are at highest risk of self-harm in the weeks immediately after the drug is prescribed, an analysis of more than...
FDA approves pill for menopausal hot flushes
The US Food and Drug Administration have given the nod to Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharm’s non-hormonal pill Veozah to treat hot flushes linked to...
Call for tighter safety measures for acne drug linked to suicides
Health authorities in Britain have called for boosted safety measures when prescribing a treatment for severe acne, after reports that numerous people have committed...
Cost of key cancer drug drops after generics victory
Lenalidomide is an important medicine in the treatment of multiple myeloma but it’s probably most infamous for its high price tag, notes MedicalBrief.
So high...
Scientists say older, common drugs could fight obesity, diabetes and other conditions
Scientists have pinpointed a range of commonly used medicines that could be repurposed to treat obesity and diabetes, as well as stomach ulcers and...
Top medications most often linked to headache – FDA database
Monoclonal antibodies, antivirals, immunomodulators and pulmonary arterial vasodilators top the list of drugs most frequently implicated as causes of headaches in a federal side...
Ibuprofen may worsen some chronic pain and increase risk of kidney injury in BP patients
Ibuprofen, one of the most common nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in use, may be contra-indicated in some conditions where it has long been used,...
BRAVE trials show that baricitinib can slap down alopecia
An oral Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor produced significant, durable hair growth, including scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes in patients with severe alopecia areata (AA), according...
Verapamil benefits for Type 1 diabetes evident two years later – University of Alabama
Using the drug verapamil to treat Type 1 diabetes continues to show benefits lasting at least two years, US researchers have reported. Patients taking...
Study of 4m people shows statin intolerance is over-estimated and over-diagnosed
As many as one in two patients stop taking statins, reduce the dose, or take them irregularly because they believe the cholesterol-lowering drugs cause...
High doses of hormone drug linked to meningioma risk – Meta-analysis
High doses of drug cyproterone acetate (CPA), a drug widely-used in the hormonal treatment of conditions like hirsutism, early puberty, and prostate cancer, have...
Pharmacotherapy more effective than lifestyle change for weight loss – Systematic review
Of all the available medications for treatment of overweight and obesity, phentermine–topiramate and GLP-1 receptor agonists proved the best drugs, found a systematic review...
Anxiety drugs/antidepressants linked to doubled risk of post-op delirium
People admitted hip or knee surgery and taking a range of drugs commonly prescribed for anxiety, insomnia and depression, were twice as likely to...
Viagra as a candidate drug for Alzheimerʼs disease — US prescription analysis
The erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may be linked to a 69% lower risk of Alzheimerʼs disease, found a US analysis of medical insurance data...
America’s Veteran Affairs shuns controversial Alzheimer's drug, noting 'known safety signal'
The US Department of Veterans Affairs has decided to not include Biogen’s pricey new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm (aducanumab) on its formulary, and its Personal...
NHS England to offer breakthrough treatment for sickle cell disease
Thousands of patients in England will benefit from the first treatment for sickle cell disease in two decades, the NHS has announced.
Crizanlizumab, a “revolutionary”...
FDA gives approval to novel migraine prevention drug
Atogepant (Qulipta) has become the first oral calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist (gepant) specifically developed for migraine prevention to win US Food and...
Paracetamol: Precautions necessary during pregnancy — Consensus Statement
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) should be used only when medically indicated during pregnancy and at the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time, according to...
Pharmacological BP reduction: Viable treatment option despite old age
Contrary to existing international guidelines on age-related blood-pressure thresholds, a meta-analysis in The Lancet found that pharmacological blood pressure reduction is effective into old...
Pharmacological BP reduction: Viable treatment option despite old age
Contrary to existing international guidelines on age-related blood-pressure thresholds, a meta-analysis in The Lancet found that pharmacological blood pressure reduction is effective into old...
At last, serious efforts to repurpose generic drugs to treat COVID-19
More than a year into the pandemic, billions of dollars have been spent on developing vaccines and expensive novel treatments, but very little on...
Meta-analysis: Beta-blockers not linked to depression or adverse mental health events
A meta-analysis of large-scale data from double-blind, randomised controlled trials does not support an association between β-blocker therapy and depression or other adverse mental...
94% of older adults are prescribed drugs that raise risk of falling
Nearly every older adult was prescribed a prescription drug that increased their risk of falling in 2017, according to new University at Buffalo research....
Pre-diagnosis aspirin use may lower colorectal cancer mortality — American Cancer Society
A study finds that long-term aspirin use before a diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) may be associated with lower CRC-specific mortality, found an American...
Azithromycin in combination may increase risk for cardiac events
While azithromycin by itself is not associated with an increase in cardiac events, if the taken with certain other drugs cardiac events increased, found...
Overlooked Soviet-era Miramistin has 'enormous potential' as antiseptic
A little-known non-toxic antiseptic developed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War has enormous potential to beat common infections, say University of Manchester...