Drugs

NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 108,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2022, according to final federal figures released Thursday. Over the last two decades, the number of U.S. overdose deaths has risen almost every year and continued to break annual records... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate on Tuesday would require the Government Accountability Office to investigate the methods used to sell fentanyl online and assess federal law enforcement efforts to prevent it.  The bill, the Targeting Online... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations on Tuesday released the Strategy for Combating Illicit Opioids, an intelligence-driven approach to disrupting and dismantling transnational criminal organizations and keeping dangerous substances, like illicit fentanyl driving the overdose epidemic,... Read More

WASHINGTON — A common decongestant ingredient used in many popular over-the-counter medications simply doesn’t work, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday, potentially setting the stage for a sweeping removal of many cold and flu remedies... Read More

ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded $279 million to 49 states, the District of Columbia and 40 local health departments to help stem the tide of overdoses within their communities.  The agency announced the awards on... Read More

WASHINGTON — The White House unveiled a new plan Tuesday it believes will dramatically slow if not eliminate the growing threat posed by fentanyl laced with xylazine, a potent drug cocktail that has led to a surge in overdose deaths... Read More

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. — U.K.-based pharmaceutical giant GSK reached its first legal settlement of a case stemming from claims its heartburn medication Zantac caused cancer. The company’s settlement with California resident James Goetz last Friday means the company will avoid... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department filed criminal charges Friday against four Chinese companies and eight individuals alleging they illegally trafficked in raw materials used to make fentanyl. The indictments mark the first time the United States has sought to prosecute... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday published a new draft guidance on what researchers should consider when investigating the use of psychedelic drugs for potential treatment of medical conditions, including psychiatric or substance use disorders.  The first-of-its-kind... Read More

WASHINGTON — Top officials at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration are urging that more be done to advance the development of rapid drug-testing tools to stem the rising tide of overdose deaths in the... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators on Monday approved a new easy-to-use version of a medication to reverse overdoses caused by fentanyl and other opioids driving the nation’s drug crisis. Opvee is similar to naloxone, the life-saving drug that has been used for decades... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — Bondi, an 8-month-old toy poodle, had just returned from a walk when he began stumbling. His head wobbled and soon he could barely stand, so his owner, Colleen Briggs, rushed him to the vet. The good... Read More

At age 93, struggling with the effects of a stroke, heart failure and recurrent cancer, Teri Sheridan was ready to end her life using New Jersey's law that allows medically assisted suicide -- but she was bedbound, too sick to... Read More

WASHINGTON — The White House’s drug policy czar on Wednesday designated fentanyl adulterated with the non-opioid tranquilizer xylazine as an emerging threat to the United States. The decision by Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National... Read More

WASHINGTON — A bill introduced by Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, aims to ensure that rural Americans and senior citizens have access to information about their prescription medications — even without internet access. “Many rural Mainers and seniors don’t have reliable... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the over-the-counter sale of a nasal spray that can reverse opioid overdoses, a move the agency says should save lives and reduce the nation’s surging rate of overdose deaths. Narcan,... Read More

Novo Nordisk will start slashing some U.S. insulin prices up to 75% next year, following a path set earlier this month by rival Eli Lilly. The Danish drugmaker said Tuesday that pre-filled pens and vials of long- and short-acting insulins... Read More

An African serval cat that was found with cocaine in its system after an escape at a traffic stop now calls the Cincinnati Zoo home, much to the delight of social media users still amused by the recent release of... Read More

WASHINGTON — Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mike Braun, R-Ind., reintroduced a trio of bills Wednesday aimed at reforming how the Food and Drug Administration approves and manages opioid medications. “In the last year, more than 106,000 Americans and 1,400... Read More

Shares of Biogen and other drugmakers researching Alzheimer’s disease soared early Wednesday after Japan’s Eisai Co. said its potential treatment appeared to slow the fatal disease’s progress in a late-stage study. Eisai announced results late Tuesday from a global study... Read More

BOSTON (AP) — Biogen has agreed to pay $900 million to resolve allegations that it violated federal law by paying kickbacks to doctors to persuade them to prescribe its multiple sclerosis drugs, federal prosecutors said. The agreement announced Monday settles... Read More

WASHINGTON — Only days after the Justice Department announced successful prosecutions of drug runners and seizures of huge stashes of illegal opioids, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said what was on everyone’s mind at a Senate hearing Tuesday. “I think we... Read More

WASHINGTON — Rahul Gupta talked to a congressional panel Monday about patients he treated with drug overdoses. Gupta is director of the U.S. National Drug Control Policy. He formerly worked as an internist in private practice for 25 years. Rather... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a bill capping the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for insured patients, part of an election-year push by Democrats for price curbs on prescription drugs at a time of rising inflation. Experts... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. needs a nimble, multipronged strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering overdose epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission advises. With vastly powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl driving record overdose deaths, the scourge of opioids awaits... Read More

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued its first public safety alert in six years in an attempt to stop the sale of deadly, fake fentanyl pills being sold on social media and e-commerce platforms.  “The amount of fentanyl... Read More

SEATTLE — Testimony this week during a civil trial in Seattle could explain why opioid deaths set a record of more than 100,000 in a year by last April. The class action lawsuit seeks $95 billion in damages against pharmaceutical... Read More

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — The Department of Justice’s Joint Criminal Opioid and Darknet Enforcement in tandem with the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation on Tuesday announced the culmination of the agencies’ efforts to disrupt opioid trafficking on the... Read More

TOPEKA, Kan. - A drug most commonly given to horses and cows as an anti-parasite medicine should not be taken by humans to treat or prevent COVID-19, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in a Wednesday advisory. Ivermectin... Read More

The Mexican government this week filed a lawsuit accusing U.S. gunmakers of helping to fuel violence by drug cartels and other criminals who encounter few impediments to acquiring the firearms.  The lawsuit filed in federal court in Massachusetts says companies... Read More