Latest Medication News

An Idaho health department isn't allowed to give COVID-19 vaccines anymore. Experts say it's a first

Nov. 01, 2024 14:36 PM EDT

A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board. Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an...

Louisiana’s new law on abortion drugs establishes risky treatment delays, lawsuit claims

Oct. 31, 2024 18:15 PM EDT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana's new law categorizing two widely used abortion drugs as “controlled dangerous substances” was challenged in a state court lawsuit Thursday by a physician, a pharmacist and others who say the legislation sets up needless, dangerous delays in treatment during...

A promising schizophrenia drug showed mixed results. What does that mean for patients?

Oct. 31, 2024 16:12 PM EDT

Some people who took a new schizophrenia drug for a year improved with only a few side effects, but many dropped out of the research, the company announced Thursday. The results underscore the difficulties in treating schizophrenia, a severe mental illness that can cause people to...

EU Commission fines Teva $500 million for trying to stop rival's multiple sclerosis drug

Oct. 31, 2024 09:28 AM EDT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission said Thursday it has fined Israeli generic drugmaker Teva more than 460 million euros ($500 million) for improperly seeking to protect the patent for its multiple sclerosis drug and for disparaging a rival company's development of a competing medicine. ...

A mutt known as 'Houdini' for his ability to elude capture is finally off the streets

Oct. 25, 2024 14:23 PM EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Dubbed on social media as the "Houdini” of New Orleans' Mid-City neighborhood, Scrim — a scruffy, mixed-breed dog that was on the lam for more than six months after escaping his yard — has finally been caught. The 13-pound (about six-kilogram) runaway was...

People 50 and older should get pneumococcal vaccine, U.S. health officials recommend

Oct. 23, 2024 19:50 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Wednesday recommended that people 50 and older get a shot against bacteria that can cause pneumonia and other dangerous illnesses. The recommendation was made by a scientific advisory panel and then accepted by the Centers for Disease...

50 years after Philadelphia halted prison medical testing, families seek reparations

Oct. 23, 2024 18:26 PM EDT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Fifty years ago, Philadelphia prison officials ended a medical testing program that had allowed an Ivy League researcher to conduct human testing on incarcerated people, many of them Black, for decades. Now, survivors of the program and their descendants want reparations. ...

UK regulator approves second Alzheimer's drug in months but government won't pay for it

Oct. 23, 2024 07:06 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — Britain's drug regulator approved the Alzheimer's drug Kisunla on Wednesday, but the government won't be paying for it after an independent watchdog agency said the treatment isn't worth the cost to taxpayers. It is the second Alzheimer's drug to receive such a mixed...

Hospitals' IV fluid shortage may impact surgeries for weeks

Oct. 22, 2024 16:55 PM EDT

Surgery schedules around the country may be washed out for several more weeks while a crucial IV and sterile fluids factory remains shut down for hurricane-related damage. People often plan non-emergency surgeries in the fall and early-winter months when their insurance coverage will...

What is the recreational drug 'pink cocaine'?

Oct. 22, 2024 16:51 PM EDT

A recreational drug called “pink cocaine” is getting attention and causing confusion since it doesn't typically contain cocaine. The pink powder — really a grab bag of different drugs dyed pink — has turned up in drug seizures, prompting warnings from law enforcement. ...