February 26, 2025
(New York Times) – The Food and Drug Administration has taken a crucial step toward expanding access to the antipsychotic medication clozapine, the only drug approved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, among the most devastating of mental illnesses. The agency announced on … Read More
February 26, 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – Research into psilocybin led by the biotech company Compass Pathways has been slowed in part by the complexity of the trials, but the data already shows promise for the psychedelic compound within so-called magic mushrooms. Eventually, … Read More
February 25, 2025
The New England Journal of Medicine (vol. 392, no. 4, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
February 24, 2025
(New York Times) – The Food and Drug Administration has reinstated dozens of specialized employees involved in food safety, review of medical devices and other areas who were laid off last week, according to more than a dozen workers who … Read More
February 24, 2025
(Axios) – Makers of copycat weight-loss drugs and digital health companies that sell them are bracing for upheaval now that the Food and Drug Administration has declared Novo Nordisk’s blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy are no longer in shortage. Why it … Read More
February 24, 2025
(NPR) – “If you have been vaccinated with two doses of vaccine as per routine, you have a 95-plus percent chance of being completely protected throughout your life,” Schaffner says. But public health experts say there are some adults who … Read More
February 21, 2025
(Wired) – The semaglutide shortage has officially ended in the US—which means the GLP-1 drug industry is about to undergo massive changes. The US Food and Drug Administration has determined that semaglutide is no longer in shortage, a move that … Read More
February 19, 2025
(New York Times) – The Covid-19 vaccines were powerfully protective, preventing millions of deaths. But in a small number of people, the shots may have led to a constellation of side effects that includes fatigue, exercise intolerance, brain fog, tinnitus … Read More
February 19, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – Chinese money brokers are teaming up with Mexican cartels, greasing the wheels of the fentanyl trade, U.S. officials say After a quick discussion with a woman in the Maserati, the man placed a large black bag … Read More
February 19, 2025
(BBC) – The tactic that had been used – perhaps successfully, in my case – is hundreds of years old. It is often deployed on social media, by brands and influencers, and by politicians around the globe. Often called an … Read More
February 18, 2025
(KFF Health News) – Shaw was among thousands of patients of Pain MD, a multistate pain management company that was once among the nation’s most prolific users of what it referred to as “tendon origin injections,” which normally inject a … Read More
February 18, 2025
(New York Times) – Criminals are targeting pharmacies and stealing weight-loss medication in a country with body image insecurities and where many cannot afford the drugs. While a smattering of media reports show thieves are after Ozempic elsewhere in the … Read More
February 18, 2025
(The Economist) – In recent months China’s progress in artificial intelligence has stunned the world. A quieter, yet equally significant shift is under way in biotech. China has long been known for churning out generic drugs, supplying raw ingredients and managing clinical … Read More
February 18, 2025
(Wired) – Can stuffed animals, rose petals, and injections of an Elon Musk–approved dissociative drug help Silicon Valley leaders out of a rut? These women say yes. “Ketamine is helpful for getting one out of the negative frame of mind,” Elon … Read More
February 17, 2025
(New York Times) – A drug called buprenorphine may be the best tool doctors have to fight the fentanyl crisis. Why hasn’t it been more widely adopted? Many see illicit fentanyl, said to be about 50 times as powerful as … Read More
February 17, 2025
(Nature) – CAR-T-cell therapy treated a girl with a rare childhood cancer, raising hopes for future recipients of the approach. The girl was four years old when she arrived at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston to receive a highly experimental … Read More
February 17, 2025
(NPR) – For customers using a telehealth website to get cheaper versions of popular obesity drugs, the low prices turned out to be too good to be true. Customers of Zappy Health tell NPR they were drawn to the online … Read More
February 17, 2025
(ProPublica) – The story of Zolgensma lays bare a confounding reality about modern drug development, in which revolutionary new treatments are becoming available only to be priced out of reach for many. It’s a story that upends commonly held conceptions … Read More
February 17, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – If you need a prescription filled in the coming years, don’t be surprised if it flies in and lands in your backyard. Hospitals and doctors are increasingly experimenting with the use of drones to deliver medications, … Read More
February 17, 2025
The Linacre Quarterly (vol. 92, no. 1, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
February 14, 2025
(BBC) – A professor who specialises in steroid abuse has called for regional centres of excellence to tackle what he says is becoming a growing public health concern. There is no official data of how many people in the UK … Read More
February 14, 2025
(New York Times) – It is the first ruling in a case challenging “shield laws” intended to protect doctors in states that support abortion rights who send abortion pills to states with bans. In a case that could have major … Read More
February 13, 2025
(Politico) – The Colorado case underscores the broader struggle of states — many of which are facing budget shortfalls this year — that cover weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for state workers. Over the past three years, a growing … Read More
February 12, 2025
(CBS News) – The U.S. confirmed at least a dozen deaths from whooping cough last year, according to preliminary figures released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That marks the most fatalities from the bacterial infection … Read More
February 12, 2025
(Ars Technica) – An outbreak of measles in one of Texas’ least vaccinated counties continues to rapidly expand, with officials reporting 24 cases Tuesday, up from just nine confirmed on Friday. According to an update by the Texas Department of State Health Services … Read More