June 17, 2024
(Washington Post via Yahoo! News) – Medical research has shortchanged women for decades. This is particularly true of older women, leaving physicians without critically important information about how to best manage their health. Late last year, the Biden administration promised to address … Read More
June 17, 2024
(Knowable Magazine) – Radiation therapy has come a long way since those early beginnings. The discovery of radium and other radioactive metals opened the doors to administering higher doses of radiation to target cancers located deeper within the body. The introduction of proton … Read More
June 17, 2024
(Reuters) – At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. military launched a secret campaign to counter what it perceived as China’s growing influence in the Philippines, a nation hit especially hard by the deadly virus. The clandestine operation … Read More
June 14, 2024
(ABC News) – Top executives of a California-based online mental health company were arrested on allegations of improperly prescribing addictive stimulants like Adderall during the coronavirus pandemic and exacerbating the shortage of the drugs for those who medically need them, officials … Read More
June 14, 2024
(BBC) – NHS England’s medical director says he is alarmed by reports that people are using weight-loss drugs as “a quick fix” to lose a few pounds and get “beach-body ready” this summer. Professor Stephen Powis said the side-effects of the drugs … Read More
June 14, 2024
(MedPage Today) – Disrupted access to prescription stimulants for patients with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may increase risks of injury or overdose, the CDC warned on Thursday following the indictment of executives of an online ADHD medication prescriber over fraud allegations. Several … Read More
June 13, 2024
(NPR) – The psychedelic drug MDMA is near the end of a decades-long effort to enter mainstream medicine but instead of celebrating, supporters now find themselves wondering if the treatment will actually make it to market anytime soon. Last week, … Read More
June 13, 2024
(Nature) – Angela Evatt lay face down under anaesthesia as surgeons removed a malignant mole from her back and a lymph node from her left armpit. The purpose of the operation was not only to excise the cancerous tissue from … Read More
June 13, 2024
(Associated Press) – The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously preserved access to a medication that was used in nearly two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S. last year, in the court’s first abortion decision since conservative justices overturned Roe v. … Read More
June 12, 2024
(Axios) – Florida’s restrictions on gender-affirming care for both minors and adults are unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Why it matters: The decision lifts restrictions for transgender adults and overturns a ban on trans children … Read More
June 12, 2024
(Reuters) – The U.S. Senate health panel said on Tuesday it would vote this month on whether to subpoena Novo Nordisk to answer questions about U.S. prices for weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which are far higher than those … Read More
June 11, 2024
(The Atlantic) – Both semaglutide (sold under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) were initially developed for diabetes and then repurposed for weight loss. But they apparently can do so much more than that. Studies … Read More
June 11, 2024
(Washington Post via MSN) – Moderna’s combined coronavirus-influenza shot produced a higher immune response in older adults than separate vaccines for those viruses administered together, according to data the company released Monday. The promising results from clinical trials, which have … Read More
June 11, 2024
(The Baffler) – The stigma is not hard to understand: magazine features, books, and movies for two decades now have chronicled America’s drug problems, including the rapacious role of drug manufacturers like Purdue Pharma, which made OxyContin a household name … Read More
June 10, 2024
(Washington Post) – The drugs in short supply include chemotherapy agents, antibiotics, medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and pain medications. There are also shortages of medications used in hospital crash carts, the self-contained mobile units in hospitals used to perform lifesaving … Read More
June 10, 2024
(The Guardian) – A combined flu and coronavirus vaccine brings about a higher immune response to both diseases than when the vaccines are administered separately, a clinical trial has shown. Moderna, the biotech firm behind the Spikevax vaccine used in … Read More
June 10, 2024
(New York Times) – A committee of independent advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Monday that the benefits outweigh the risks of the newest experimental drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s afflicts more than six million Americans. … Read More
June 10, 2024
(STAT News) – It’s a familiar scene for patients during a routine primary care visit. The doctor scans blood test results, notes high cholesterol flagged by a standard calculator to assess risk of heart attack or stroke, then decides — … Read More
June 7, 2024
(UPI) – The popular underground drug midomafetamine, also called MDMA and “ecstasy,” failed to win an advisory panel’s support as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder Tuesday. The independent federal advisory panel voted 9-2 against authorizing the drug’s use for … Read More
June 7, 2024
(Axios) – The Food and Drug Administration rescinded a marketing ban on Juul e-cigarettes, saying Thursday that it is reviewing new case law and weighing updated information from the company. Why it matters: While the FDA said the action didn’t … Read More
June 6, 2024
(BBC) – One out of every six people have symptoms when they stop taking antidepressants – fewer than previously thought, a review of previous studies suggests. The researchers say their findings will help inform doctors and patients “without causing undue … Read More
June 6, 2024
(STAT News) – Finland is preparing to offer vaccines to people at risk of exposure to an avian influenza strain spreading among farmed and wild animals, health officials there said, potentially becoming the first country to take such a step … Read More
June 6, 2024
(The Guardian) – Once upon a time, it was only hardcore bodybuilders who pumped themselves up with testosterone. Today it is no longer niche. But how dangerous is it? A decade or two ago, it would have been unlikely a … Read More
May 30, 2024
May 28, 2024
(Axios) – The relatively small number of health care providers trained in obesity care can hardly keep up with Americans’ demand for new weight-loss drugs. Why it matters: Tens of thousands of U.S. patients each week are starting on treatments … Read More
