Longevity drugs are intended for healthy dogs, which changes the risk-benefit calculus. “It’s one thing if a dog is on death’s door and you’re giving them some late-breaking treatment,” said Bev Klingensmith, a Great Dane breeder in Iowa who also has a Great Dane and a golden retriever of her own. “Giving my young, healthy […]
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Regulators in Britain on Thursday approved the first treatment derived from CRISPR, the revolutionary gene-editing method. Called Casgevy, the treatment is intended to cure sickle-cell disease and a related condition, beta thalassemia. The manufacturers, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, based in Boston, and CRISPR Therapeutics, based in Switzerland, say about 2,000 patients in Britain with sickle-cell disease or […]
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Seniors are one of the fastest-growing populations of cannabis users in the United States. While some older adults have used pot for decades, studies suggest that others are turning to the drug for the first time to help them sleep better, dampen pain or treat anxiety — especially when prescription drugs, which often come with […]
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A pivotal new study suggests that the weight loss drug Wegovy cut the risk of heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular issues by 20 percent among overweight or obese people with heart disease — a striking benefit that could change the standard of care for these patients. “We’ve just identified a new best practice,” […]
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The decision by the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday to approve the weight loss drug tirzepatide adds a potent new tool to the fast-growing arsenal of obesity drugs. The drug, which will go by the brand name Zepbound, contains the same compound in the sought-after diabetes drug Mounjaro. Many people have used Mounjaro off-label […]
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The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved an obesity drug from the company Eli Lilly that will be a direct competitor to the wildly popular Wegovy. The drug is called tirzepatide and will be sold under the name Zepbound. It joins a class of new medications that are transforming weight loss and obesity, a […]
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The rise in sexually transmitted infections in the United States has taken a particularly tragic turn: More than 3,700 cases of congenital syphilis were reported in 2022, roughly 11 times the number recorded a decade ago, according to data released on Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Syphilis during pregnancy can lead […]
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At Kaneshie Polyclinic, a health center in a hardscrabble neighborhood of Accra, the capital of Ghana, there is a rule. Every patient who walks through the door — a woman in labor, a construction worker with an injury, a child with malaria — is screened for tuberculosis. This policy, a national one, is meant to […]
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A panel of experts said on Tuesday that a groundbreaking treatment for sickle cell disease was safe enough for clinical use, setting the stage for likely federal approval by Dec. 8 of a powerful potential cure for an illness that afflicts more than 100,000 Americans. The Food and Drug Administration had previously found that the […]
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In a carpeted office suite, Alex Beck settled onto a mattress and, under the watch of a trained guide, began chomping through a handful of “Pumpkin Hillbilly” mushrooms. A Marine Corps veteran who was sexually assaulted during his time in the armed forces, Mr. Beck had long been searching unsuccessfully for a way to put […]
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The problem is daunting: Powerful but expensive new drugs could help many of the 100 million American adults who have obesity and alleviate a grave public health concern. But how can the nation afford lifelong treatments for so many people, with sticker prices for each patient ranging from about $900 to $1,300 every four weeks? […]
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Federal prosecutors have accused 10 people of orchestrating a $20 million scheme to “get rich” by buying and selling black-market H.I.V. medications that in some cases had been purchased from low-income patients who risked their lives by selling it. Some of those accused in the case then used the proceeds to buy luxury cars, waterfront […]
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Rite Aid, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the United States, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, weighed down by billions of dollars in debt, declining sales and more than a thousand federal, state and local lawsuits claiming it filled thousands of illegal prescriptions for painkillers. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in […]
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If you’re enrolled in Medicare, you might want to turn off your television this time of year. In the weeks ahead, the airwaves will be flooded with advertisements promoting insurance plans during Medicare’s open enrollment period, which will start on Sunday and end Dec. 7. During open enrollment, you can make changes to your Part […]
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Respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., is a nasty bug. It’s the leading cause of hospitalizations among American infants and results in thousands of deaths among the elderly each year. So earlier this year, after the Food and Drug Administration approved two vaccines for adults 60 and up, approved antibodies for babies and toddlers, and approved […]
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An advisory committee for the Food and Drug Administration recently concluded that a popular oral decongestant sold over the counter was no better than placebo. The agency now faces the question of whether to pull medications that use the ingredient — called phenylephrine — off store shelves. The news spurred shock and anger over how […]
Read MoreWhen Mark Basa needed his next dose of Wegovy, he worked his way down a list of 10 CVS stores within a 25-mile radius of his Peekskill, N.Y., home — and struck out at every one. In the 10 weeks he couldn’t find the drug, he regained the eight pounds he had lost on the […]
Read MoreIt is a long-running concern of government watchdogs: Some of the experts responsible for helping to craft the U.S. dietary guidelines also take money from big food and drug companies. A report published Wednesday by the nonprofit U.S. Right to Know makes those concerns plain. Nine of the 20 experts on the 2025 Dietary Guidelines […]
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The manufacturers of 10 expensive medications have agreed to negotiate with the federal government for lower prices for Medicare recipients, the Biden administration announced on Tuesday. The pharmaceutical companies said they would begin talks with the government even as several of them were suing the administration, arguing that the new law authorizing the negotiations — […]
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A big obstacle, though, continues to be resistance to vaccination among nurses and aides. Like many facility owners, Avalon Health Care Group, which owns or operates more than a dozen nursing homes in western states, is not mandating staff be vaccinated. Dr. Sabine von Preyss-Friedman, Avalon’s chief medical officer, says she tries to address the […]
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Vero Lopez was excited about getting the new Covid vaccine. She’s cautious about the virus, still carrying a mask around and avoiding indoor dining. So Ms. Lopez, 52, contacted her health care provider, Kaiser Permanente, as soon as she found out the shots were approved last week. She couldn’t get the vaccine through them yet, […]
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Kimmy Meinecke blamed herself when she stopped losing weight. For two years, she had been taking a weekly injection of Ozempic to control her diabetes. The medication curbed her appetite so much that sometimes all she ate for dinner was a yogurt or cheese and crackers. But then one day, the scale hit 240, 25 […]
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Judy Govatos has heard that magical phrase “you’re in remission” twice, in 2015 and again in 2019. She had beaten back Stage 4 lymphoma with such aggressive chemotherapy and other treatments that at one point she grew too weak to stand, and relied on a wheelchair. She endured several hospitalizations, suffered infections and lost nearly […]
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Dr. Leslie Hendeles began prodding the Food and Drug Administration to reject a decongestant in cold medicines when he had a mop of curly red hair and Bill Clinton had just become president. By the time opposition to the drug had coalesced, Dr. Hendeles was appearing, at age 80, as an expert to testify before […]
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The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday issued what amounted to a warning to pharmaceutical companies about the legality of a widespread patenting strategy that experts say has helped keep inhaler costs high for patients with asthma and lung problems. In a policy statement unanimously endorsed by the agency’s commissioners, the F.T.C. said it “intends to […]
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But you still may want to look for alternatives. “Me, personally, I wouldn’t want myself or my kid to take anything that’s unnecessary and that’s demonstrated ineffective,” said Jennifer Le, a member of the advisory committee and a professor of clinical pharmacy with the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of […]
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Why It Matters: These Are Popular Staples of the Medicine Cabinet. Every cold and flu season, millions of Americans reach for these products, some over decades. The decongestant is in at least 250 products that were worth nearly $1.8 billion in sales last year, according to an agency presentation. Among the products: Sudafed Sinus Congestion, […]
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Americans may be able to receive the next Covid shots as early as Wednesday, the last of a trifecta of vaccines intended to prevent respiratory infections this fall and winter. On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized updated Covid vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna. A scientific advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control […]
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Two new Covid shots have received the green light from the Food and Drug Administration. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to follow up with guidance on eligibility as soon as Tuesday, making the new vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna available as Covid cases continue to rise in some parts of the […]
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America’s overdose crisis has prompted a significant shift in the war on drugs. Just last week, Narcan, a medication that stops opioid overdoses, became available nationwide without a prescription for the first time. The change, which the Food and Drug Administration approved in March, is part of a growing acceptance of a strategy known as […]
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The latest Covid boosters are expected to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration as early as Monday, arriving alongside the seasonal flu vaccine and shots to protect infants and older adults from R.S.V., a potentially lethal respiratory virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to follow up on Tuesday with […]
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