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Medications

Combined oral contraceptive use among people with migraine with aura persists, despite cautions

Current medical guidelines discourage the use of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) among people who experience migraine with aura—a type of migraine accompanied by temporary neurological symptoms—due to a heightened ...

Medications

Study finds 40% of GLP-1 prescriptions go unfilled: Is cost curbing use of weight loss drugs?

Popular new anti-obesity medications can help people lose 10% to 20% of their body weight, yet a new study indicates that about 40% of those prescriptions go unfilled. Affordability, say researchers, is likely a factor.

Medications

FDA approves Waskyra for Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Waskyra (etuvetidigene autotemcel) as the first cell-based gene therapy for the treatment of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS).

Medications

How statins cause muscle aches

Many people stop taking cholesterol-lowering statins because they experience muscle aches, weakness, and fatigue.

Medications

Cannabis derivatives could provide new ovarian cancer treatments

In the future, scientists could use drugs made from cannabis to fight ovarian cancer. A team of scientists testing the effects of two chemical compounds sourced from cannabis on ovarian cancer cells have found that both show ...

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

Study exposes huge levels of untargeted antibiotic prescribing

Doctors are prescribing antibiotics for tens of thousands of patients with infections, with little or no consideration of prognosis and the risk of the infection worsening, according to a new study led by University of Manchester ...

Medications

Q&A: How can drug repurposing lower drug costs and improve care?

Americans pay a lot of money for prescription medications. In 2023, spending on prescription drugs in the United States topped $722 billion, a trend that's expected to continue. Yet, nearly 30% struggle to pay for their prescriptions ...

Medications

Rivaroxaban comparable to warfarin in left ventricular blood clots

At three months of follow-up, patients hospitalized for a serious heart attack who were treated with the oral blood thinner rivaroxaban for a blood clot in the left ventricle did as well as similar patients who received standard ...