prescription drugs

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For This Popular Diabetes Drug, a 'Surprisingly High' Risk

Study: Offspring of men who filled metformin Rx during sperm development see risk of rare genital defects

(Newser) - One of the most widely prescribed diabetes drugs has been linked to an increased risk of birth defects in the offspring of men who filled a prescription for it shortly before conception, according to new research. "When I saw the paper ... I thought: 'Yup, this is gonna go...

Walmart Touts a Revolution in Diabetes Care

Retailer to offer low-cost analog insulin starting this week

(Newser) - Walmart says diabetes patients can save up to 75% on rapid-acting insulin by purchasing its own brand of the drug, launching this week. What it calls the "first-ever private brand analog insulin"—to be sold at Walmart pharmacies this week and at Sam's Club pharmacies in mid-July—...

FDA Advisers Quit Over Alzheimer's Drug: 'Sham Process'

They're not happy the agency OK'd Biogen's Aduhelm against panel's recommendation

(Newser) - The week kicked off with controversy swirling around aducanumab, the drug being marketed by Biogen as Aduhelm to treat Alzheimer's disease. The drama continues, with two members of an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration stepping down over the agency's decision to OK the drug against...

FDA Approves Controversial New Alzheimer's Drug

Biogen's aducanumab receives green light, despite questions about effectiveness

(Newser) - Big news in the world of Alzheimer's: The FDA on Monday approved the first new treatment in nearly 20 years, disregarding warnings from independent advisers that the drug hasn't been shown to help slow the brain-destroying disease, per the AP . The drug aducanumab is made by Biogen and...

2 More Dings Against Drug: an FDA Warning and a Study

Agency cautions hydroxychloroquine should only be used in very restricted settings

(Newser) - The drug once touted by President Trump as a possible "game changer" in the fight against the coronavirus has been the subject of more sobering headlines of late, and the newest one from the Food and Drug Administration doesn't help matters. Per Stat News , the FDA on Friday...

Hydroxychloroquine Falls Out of Favor
Trump Called It a Potential
'Game Changer.' No Longer
the rundown

Trump Called It a Potential 'Game Changer.' No Longer

A coronavirus panel recommended against hydroxychloroquine's use on Tuesday

(Newser) - The bloom appears to be off the rose when it comes to the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine. President Trump has repeatedly touted it as a possible treatment for the novel coronavirus, but a yet-to-be-peer-reviewed study released Tuesday found there were more deaths among COVID-19 patients at US veteran hospitals who were...

Test Reveals Saoirse Kennedy Hill's Cause of Death

It was an accidental OD from alcohol, methadone, prescription drugs

(Newser) - The autopsy for Saoirse Kennedy Hill in August didn't offer much insight into how she died, but now the toxicology tests are in: The death certificate for the 22-year-old notes she suffered an accidental overdose from a lethal mix of alcohol, methadone, and prescription drugs, per WCVB . Besides the...

Trump Administration Makes Big Move on Pharmaceuticals

Americans will be allowed to import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada

(Newser) - The Trump administration said Wednesday it will set up a system to allow Americans to legally import lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada, weakening a long-standing ban that had stood as a top priority for the politically powerful pharmaceutical industry. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar made the announcement Wednesday...

AG: Fake Pharmacist Doled Out 750K Prescriptions

For over 10 years, Kim Thien Le worked as Bay Area pharmacist without license: Xavier Becerra

(Newser) - For more than 10 years, Kim Thien Le handed out scads of prescriptions as a pharmacist at a handful of Walgreens stores in the Bay Area—nearly 750,000 scripts when all was said and done, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra noted Tuesday. The problem, per the AG's statement:...

Opioid Crisis Sees Ray of Hope
Opioid Crisis Sees Ray of Hope

Opioid Crisis Sees Ray of Hope

Use of prescription opioids actually fell in 2018

(Newser) - For those grieving the opioid crisis, a sliver of hope: America's use of prescription opioids fell more than ever last year amid a government crackdown on drugmakers and pharmacists, CNBC reports. Overall use dropped 17% in 2018, the biggest decline on record, according to the health research firm IQVIA...

Amid Increasing Drug Recalls, FDA Focuses on 2 Factories

Agency: Factories in China, India that made blood pressure drugs have equipment, process problems

(Newser) - With the significant number of drugs and drug ingredients made overseas, it's hard for the FDA to provide airtight oversight. But two plants in China and India that pump out oft-prescribed blood pressure and heart medications are now on the agency's radar after FDA tests revealed trace amounts...

Prescription Was Just One Letter Off, but ... Oh Man

Woman given ED cream for her eyes, prompting call for use of block letters by doctors

(Newser) - A woman in Scotland went to the doctor with a dry eye condition and left with a prescription for a lubricant called VitA-POS. All good so far. The pharmacist, however, read the doctor's writing as Vitaros, which, while just one letter different, happens to be a cream used to...

Insurer's Drug Plan: We'll Pay You to Go to Mexico

Workers in Utah get cash incentive to buy cheaper drugs across the border

(Newser) - It's no secret that many prescription drugs are cheaper in Mexico than in the US—stories about "medical tourism" have been around for years, like this one in Pacific Standard . Now, however, a large health insurer in Utah has employed a novel approach to take advantage of the...

Trump Unveils Plan to Lower Drug Prices

It would apply to drugs administered at doctors' offices

(Newser) - Less than two weeks before the midterm elections, in which health care has been a major issue, President Donald Trump on Thursday announced a plan to lower prices for some prescription drugs, the AP reports, saying it would stop unfair practices that force Americans to pay higher prices than people...

Amazon Just Made a Big Move That Might Worry CVS

Jeff Bezos is buying PillPack, an online pharmacy that dispenses prescription drugs

(Newser) - There's a reason shares of CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid were tumbling Thursday, and it can be summed up in one word: Amazon. The retailing behemoth made its first significant move into the pharmacy business by buying PillPack, an online company that ships medications to customers' homes, reports the...

Company Sold $1.3B of a Drug That's Not Hugely Effective

Inside New York state's pushback against Orkambi

(Newser) - Only 28,000 of the planet's 7 billion people are eligible to take the cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi. And yet that tiny population enabled drugmaker Vertex to make roughly $1.3 billion in sales off the product. How does that math work out? The annual price of the drug...

Congress Passes 'Right-to-Try' Drug Bill

Law will let terminally ill patients bypass FDA

(Newser) - A "right-to-try" bill that allows terminally ill patients to request medication that hasn't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration has passed Congress and is expected to be signed by President Trump. The bill, which passed the Senate last August, sailed through the House Tuesday with a...

FDA Approves Potential Migraine Game-Changer

Monthly injection reduces migraine frequency without major side effects

(Newser) - "Progress, but not a panacea." So proclaims an editorial in journal JAMA on Aimovig, a first-of-its-kind drug purported to prevent chronic migraines without many side effects that was on Thursday approved by the FDA. The drug from Amgen and Novartis, and similar ones in their final stages, "...

Want Cheaper Prescriptions? Don't Always Use Insurance

Study finds drugs often cheaper than insurance co-pays

(Newser) - Having health insurance means saving money on prescriptions, right? Not necessarily. A study published Tuesday in JAMA found insurance co-pays for generic drugs were actually higher than the cost of the drug 28% of the time. For name-brand drugs, it was 6%. Say your insurance has a $10 co-pay for...

Opioids No Better Than Other Meds at Treating Pain
Tylenol, Advil Work
Just as Well as Opioids
NEW STUDY

Tylenol, Advil Work Just as Well as Opioids

Study finds they're not much better than over-the-counter meds for pain relief

(Newser) - Even after overdose and addiction risks became known, opioid prescriptions continued on the belief that the drugs were more effective at relieving pain than other medications. New research suggests that may not be the case. In a study in JAMA , scientists say opioids appear to be no better at treating...

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