Pharmaceutical 7376 articles

Bottles of over-the-counter infant ibuprofen sold at CVS, Walmart and Family Dollar have been recalled because they contain concentrations of medicine that are too high and could be dangerous to young children, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in a news release. The recall involves three lots of Infants’ Ibuprofen Concentrated Oral Suspension manufactured by Tris Pharma Inc. “There is a remote possibility that infants, who may be susceptible to a higher potency level of drug, and therefore may be more vulnerable to permanent NSAID-associated renal injury,” the agency said. Adverse events related to ingesting a higher dose of ... Read More

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert took a swipe at the family behind Big Pharma giant Purdue Pharma, blaming the company and its owners for what he described as its ruthless plan to increase profits by increasing the number of opioid addicts around the world. Colbert calls the opioid epidemic a problem that affects both political parties. “It does not discriminate,” he said. “And a lot of people blame big pharma. But only because it’s their fault.” National Safety Council reported that 80 percent of new heroin users started on the illicit drug after misusing prescription pain killers. It was ... Read More

More than 20 drug companies were hit with a proposed class action brought by dozens of children who were born addicted to opioid painkillers, a condition known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or NAS. The latest attack in the fight to curb the opioid epidemic blames the pharmaceutical companies for ignoring regulations in order to increase their profits, which allowed the drugs into the black market, further fueling the nation’s opioid crisis. According to the 95-page complaint, the number of babies born addicted to opioids in the United States has jumped from 1.2 per 1,000 babies in 2000 to 5.8 per ... Read More

First Lady Melania Trump has adopted opioid addiction as a signature FLOTUS cause and says she wants to lift the “stigma of shame” from addiction. She aims to generate more public discussion about the crisis so more people who are addicted to the powerful painkillers can get help. Trump spoke at a town hall-type gathering on addiction at Liberty University in southwestern Virginia along with ex-Fox News’ Eric Bolling, Demi Lovato’s mother Dianna Hart, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, where she called the opioid epidemic the “worst drug crisis in American history.” During her nine-minute speech, Trump urged students ... Read More

Six in 10 patients with moderate-to-severe hip or knee arthritis use opioids prior to total joint surgery, and these patients tended to have poorer outcomes that those who do not use the powerful painkillers. They also may be more likely to develop a dependence or addiction to opioids after surgery, according to a study published in Healio Rheumatology. Researcher Seoyoung C. Kim, M.D., ScD, MSCE, an associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, analyzed Medicare data to determine preoperative opioid use patterns among nearly a half million patients 65 years or older ... Read More

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug for a deadly type of leukemia linked to workplace exposure of benzene. Pfizer Inc.’s Daurismo, which contains the active ingredient glasdegib, is a daily, oral medication for newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia, or AML, in adults 75 years of age or older who are unable to be treated with intensive induction chemotherapy. Daurismo is taken in combination with a low-dose of the chemotherapy cytarabine (LDAC). It is also the first and only FDA-approved Hedgehog pathway inhibitor for AML. AML is a rapidly progressing bone marrow cancer that has a ... Read More

Immediately discontinuing the multiple sclerosis (MS) medication Gilenya (fingolimod) can significantly worsen the disease, even from the point where it was before the medication was started, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautioned in a Safety Communication. This side effect of Gilenya is rare, but can result in permanent disability. The FDA is advising patients to contact their doctor immediately if they experience new or worsening symptoms of MS after stopping Gilenya treatment. These symptoms vary and include new or worsening weakness, increased trouble using arms or legs, or changes in thinking, eyesight or balance. Gilenya treatment may have to ... Read More

“Here, Corey. Just take this. It will knock the pain right out.” For the first time, Chuck Deprill was talking publicly about the events that led up to his son’s opioid overdose death in 2011. In a speech to first responders, he shared how Cory was dealing with pain after a recent hernia repair surgery but needed to return to his full-time job as a wheelchair van driver. A friend offered him an Oxycontin. “And that was the beginning…” Deprill said. That one pill led to more pills, to a strong dependence for more opioids, and on to a heroin ... Read More

The father of a teenager who died from an opioid overdose in 2011 has made it his life’s mission to educate students of the overwhelming power of opioid addiction in hopes of preventing more deaths like the one that killed his son. “Guess what’s coming your way,” he told a group of Ohio’s South Greene High School students. “This epidemic.” Prescription opioids, illegal heroin, and synthetic fentanyl kill more than 115 people in the United States every day, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Wayne Campbell’s son Tyler was one of them. Tyler was prescribed opioids to treat ... Read More

Too many prescriptions are being written in the U.S. for opioids, and the duration of those drugs are often longer than needed. It’s time the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stopped dragging its feet and develops guidelines for prescribing these highly addictive opioids, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a speech to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine this week. “For too long, it’s been too easy for doctors to prescribe lots of pills,” he said. “We want to make the easy and sensible decision, the one to dispense just a day or two of medicine, where that ... Read More