Ministers were warned nearly two years ago about the “significant public health threat” posed by synthetic opioids but delayed taking recommended steps to tackle rising deaths, the Observer can reveal. In a report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, sent to the Home Office in July 2022, the government’s own advisers laid… Continue reading UK ministers knew of ‘significant’ synthetic opioids threat two years ago | Drugs policy
Tag: drugs
From IVF to birth control, Supreme Court abortion pill case could spark challenges to other drugs
WASHINGTON — Vaccines, birth control pills, hormone therapies and fertility drugs would be subject to new litigation if the Supreme Court endorses a challenge to abortion pill mifepristone, pharmaceutical industry experts warn. When the court on Tuesday weighs whether to roll back Food and Drug Administration findings that made mifepristone more readily available, it is… Continue reading From IVF to birth control, Supreme Court abortion pill case could spark challenges to other drugs
A new mandate requires insurers to cover PrEP HIV prevention drugs by 2025
A national health task force’s sterling new endorsement of a long-acting injectable medication for use as HIV prevention will require health insurers to begin covering the pricey drug by 2025. Such expanded access to the preventive therapy could lend a much-needed boost to the country’s relatively anemic efforts to thwart the HIV epidemic. However, the… Continue reading A new mandate requires insurers to cover PrEP HIV prevention drugs by 2025
Scientists hope weight-loss drugs could treat addiction and dementia | Dementia
They have taken the celebrity world by storm as a slimming jab and become a vital tool for managing type 2 diabetes. Now drugs such as Ozempic are being researched to look at whether they could help conditions ranging from alcohol misuse to dementia. Ozempic, a type 2 diabetes medication, and Wegovy, which is licensed… Continue reading Scientists hope weight-loss drugs could treat addiction and dementia | Dementia
Is the therapeutic potential of hallucinogens risky and overhyped? | Drugs
In June 2021, 32-year-old actor Kate Hyatt travelled to a farmhouse near Great Malvern in Worcerstershire for a plant medicine retreat that she hoped would improve her mental health after a difficult time during the pandemic lockdowns. While there, she is believed to have taken a substance called wachuma, or San Pedro cactus, a powerful… Continue reading Is the therapeutic potential of hallucinogens risky and overhyped? | Drugs
Price gouging of chemo drugs hits some hospitals hard
As the cancer drug shortage drags on, some smaller hospitals and cancer centers across the United States say some suppliers are jacking up the prices of the lifesaving medications. Debbie Davis, the director of clinical operations at Pacific Cancer Care in Monterey, California, was in desperate need of more carboplatin, a chemotherapy drug that usually… Continue reading Price gouging of chemo drugs hits some hospitals hard
Study finds 11% of patients in cardiac intensive care have taken recreational drugs | Medical research
More than one in 10 patients admitted to cardiac intensive care have taken recreational drugs, research has found. Researchers in France tested the urine samples of all patients admitted to cardiac intensive care in 39 French hospitals during a fortnight in April 2021. They found 11% had taken drugs such as marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine.… Continue reading Study finds 11% of patients in cardiac intensive care have taken recreational drugs | Medical research
Robert De Niro’s grandson died from fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs, medical examiner says
Robert De Niro’s grandson died from a combination of illegal drugs, including fentanyl and cocaine, a New York City medical examiner said Tuesday. Leandro Anthony De Niro-Rodriguez, 19, was found unconscious on July 2 at an apartment on 55 Wall St. in lower Manhattan. The aspiring actor was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A woman,… Continue reading Robert De Niro’s grandson died from fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs, medical examiner says