Racial, Ethnic Disparities Persist in OUD Treatment
Black and Hispanic patients with a disability had a tougher time getting medication to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) despite frequent contact with healthcare providers, Medicare claims data showed. Within 180 days of an index OUD-related event, Black patients received a prescription for buprenorphine 12.7% of the time, Hispanic patients 18.7% of the time, and […]
Supreme Court Preserves Access to Mifepristone
The Supreme Court on Friday preserved access to mifepristone (Mifeprex), a drug used in medication abortions by millions of women since its approval more than two decades ago, rejecting restrictions set to be imposed by lower courts while the case can be fully heard. “Although the Supreme Court has kept mifepristone available to patients for […]
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 […]
FDA Declares Adderall Shortage Following Supply Delays
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared a nationwide shortage of a medication commonly known by its brand name, Adderall, which is prescribed to tens of millions of people to manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy and other conditions. Teva Pharmaceuticals, one of the primary manufacturers of the drug, “is experiencing ongoing intermittent manufacturing delays,” […]
Artesunate: Malaria Treatment Uses, Warnings, Side Effects, Dosage
What is artesunate, and what is it used for? Artesunate is a medication administered intravenously to treat serious malaria, a disease with high fevers, shaking chills, and flu-like illness, in adults and children. Malaria is caused by microscopic unicellular parasites belonging to the Plasmodium species, and the disease caused by Plasmodium falciparum is the type […]
What To Do If Your Insurance Denies You Treatment Based On Your Weight
You go to the doctor for medication or a procedure you need in order to live a happier, healthier life. Your doctor approves … but your insurance does not. This happens frequently. A recent New York Times article, for example, highlighted how patients who qualified for a new weight loss drug were denied coverage by […]
Abortion Pill Web Searches Surged After Leaked SCOTUS Decision
Internet searches on abortion medication spiked to “record national highs” following the leak of the draft Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade, researchers reported. In the 72 hours following the leaked draft on May 2, searches related to abortion medications were 162% (95% CI 149-175) higher than expected, with approximately 350,000 searches for abortion […]
Opinion | Should Young and Healthy Patients Take Paxlovid?
The development of an oral anti-viral medication that could reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in unvaccinated high-risk individuals was nothing short of game-changing and something that clinicians like me were clamoring for. This milestone was achieved with the FDA’s granting of emergency use authorization (EUA) to Pfizer’s nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) in December 2021. The active ingredient […]
7 Signs Your Mental Health Medication Isn’t Working The Way It Should
Finding the right antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication (or combination of medications) requires a steady stream of diligence — a level of persistence that can quickly dry up if side effects start to make an appearance. “Everyone’s brain and body responds to and processes medications differently, so getting on the right medication regimen can be a […]
Bump in Non-Opioid Pain Prescriptions Following CDC’s 2016 Guidelines
Non-opioid pain medication prescribing increased after the CDC published guidelines on opioids for chronic pain in 2016, according to a cohort study using insurance claims data. Among over 15 million individuals, logistic regression models showed that the odds of non-opioid pain prescriptions were higher following the release of the “Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic […]