Addiction Tx, Better Border Control Dominate House Hearing on Drug Policy Office
When it comes to solving the opioid addiction problem in the U.S., is decreasing the demand for the drugs or stopping the supply more important? Differing opinions were on display at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Thursday on funding the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). “We need to understand […]
CMS Must Work Harder to Get New Drugs and Devices Covered Quickly, House Members Say
Medicare needs to up its game when it comes to approving coverage for new drugs and devices, witnesses and members of Congress agreed Tuesday at a House hearing. “Despite the historic advancements in treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, the Biden administration has decided to limit access to these therapies through onerous coverage policies that require patients […]
Could Semaglutide Help Curb Addictive Behaviors?
Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and other drugs in its class are widely known for their role in managing type 2 diabetes and suppressing appetite. They may also prove helpful one day in curbing certain addictive behaviors like alcohol use and smoking. Preclinical research has shown promising results, and endocrinologists and patients have described, anecdotally, reduced cravings […]
Obesity-Related Medication Use Remains Low After Bariatric Surgery
Fewer patients with obesity used lipid-lowering, cardiovascular, or antidiabetic drugs after bariatric surgery compared with matched patients who did not have surgery for morbid obesity, a population-based cohort study in Sweden and Finland found. Bariatric surgery patients had a lower probability of receiving a prescription for one of the three categories of medication in all […]
Do Orphan Drugs Really Need Development Incentives?
Drugs approved for an “orphan” indication ended up making just as much money as their non-orphan counterparts, even though they were helped by incentives during development, researchers found. There was no significant difference in median 5-year net sales between orphan and non-orphan drugs ($719 million vs $812 million, P=0.09), reported Benjamin Rome, MD, MPH, of […]
Mail-Back Envelopes Will Be Dispensed With Outpatient Opioid Scripts
The FDA will require manufacturers of opioid drugs that are dispensed in outpatient settings to provide prepaid mail-back envelopes to outpatient pharmacies and other dispensers, the agency announced Monday. The move is part of the FDA’s comprehensive approach to addressing the overdose crisis, according to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD. “We believe these efforts will […]
Is Pain Treated Effectively With Antidepressants?
While some antidepressant drugs were effective for certain pain conditions, most were either ineffective or evidence was inconclusive, a review found. Evidence of efficacy of antidepressants for pain emerged in 11 of 42 comparisons included in an overview of systematic reviews, reported Giovanni Ferreira, PhD, of the University of Sydney, and colleagues. In four of […]
White House Drug Control Office Focused on Improving Treatment Access
Improving access to addiction treatment and disrupting the supply of illicit drugs will be the big goals this year for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), according to its director, Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH. One big order of business will be to fully implement the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, which was included […]
Abortion Pill Can Be Dispensed in Retail Pharmacies, FDA Says
The FDA is now permitting mifepristone (Mifeprex), one of two drugs used for medication abortion, to be dispensed in retail pharmacies, the agency announced on Tuesday. Prior to this announcement, mifepristone could only be dispensed by some mail-order pharmacies, or in person by specially certified providers. This week’s decision will allow patients to pick up […]
SGLT2 Inhibitors, GLP-1 RAs Not Cost-Effective as First-Line T2D Agents
Although using newer classes of diabetes drugs as first-line therapy can boost life expectancy, this strategy can be quite pricey, according to a cost-effectiveness study. Compared with traditional first-line metformin, first-line SGLT2 inhibitors cost $43,000 more over a lifetime, and first-line GLP-1 receptor agonists cost $49,000 more, reported Neda Laiteerapong, MD, MS, of the University […]