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Medications news

Medications

Single-dose oral treatment for gonorrhea effectively combats drug-resistant infections, clinical trial finds

A single-dose oral medication called zoliflodacin shows promise as a new treatment for antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, according to a Phase III trial published in The Lancet.

Medications

Examining hidden risks of cannabis use among older adults

Cannabis use is rising among older adults, fueled by expanded legalization and people increasingly turning to cannabinoid-containing products to manage pain, sleep problems and other chronic issues.

Medications

ADHD prescriptions on the rise in Ontario, study finds

Annual prescriptions for drugs to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) increased 157% in Ontario from 2015 to 2023, according to a new study from researchers at ICES, North York General, and The Hospital ...

Medications

EU to reward antibiotic innovation with new pharma rules

Drugmakers that develop new antibiotics are set to benefit from longer market protection in Europe after the EU agreed Thursday to a wide-ranging reform of pharmaceutical rules seeking to boost innovation and tackle antimicrobial ...

Medications

Opioids: Clarifying the concept of safe supply to save lives

In Canada, thousands of people use contaminated street opioids. To reduce overdoses, the country has been experimenting for the past 10 years with the distribution of pharmaceutical opioids as an alternative to illicit drugs. ...

Medications

Online tool detects drug exposure directly from patient samples

Doctors and researchers try to understand what medications a person has taken by asking patients directly or by looking at medical records. But this information is often incomplete. People may forget what they took, use over‑the‑counter ...

Medications

FDA approves Itvisma for spinal muscular atrophy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Itvisma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-brve) for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in patients 2 years and older with confirmed mutation in the survival motor neuron ...

Medications

Monthly obesity shot shows big weight loss in trial

Alternatives to weekly injections of weight-loss drugs may be on the way. A monthly dose of a new drug called MariTide helped participants in a phase 2 clinical trial shed about 20% of their body weight over a year, researchers ...

Medications

Novel therapy saves patient with severe heart inflammation

Acute myocarditis—sudden inflammation of the heart—causes mild symptoms in most cases, but about 10% of acute myocarditis cases can be sudden and severe, leading to cardiac arrhythmias, heart pump failure, or even death. ...

Medications

E.coli can turn plastic into painkillers, chemists discover

Scientists have found a way to use the bacteria E. coli to convert plastic waste into a popular painkiller, a study said Monday, though outside experts doubted the technique would make a dent in the fight against plastic ...

Medications

Lilly's experimental obesity pill holds up to scrutiny in trial

Eli Lilly & Co.'s experimental weight loss pill helped patients shed pounds without serious side effects in a clinical trial, burnishing the drug's blockbuster potential in the company's competition with Novo Nordisk A/S.

Medications

The quest to reinvent anesthesia

Before 1846, surgery was a crude and brutal undertaking, typically performed on conscious patients lashed to their beds. Then a Boston dentist publicly demonstrated that the highly flammable chemical diethyl ether—commonly ...

Medications

A drug for extreme hunger offers clues to obesity's complexity

Ali Foley Shenk still remembers the panic when her 10-year-old son, Dean, finished a 20-ounce box of raisins in the seconds the cupboard was left unlocked. They rushed to the emergency room, fearing a dangerous bowel impaction.