North America

Easy-to-use drug compendium

‘AHFS drug information 2016’, Gerald K. McEvoy. Pp xvi+3824. Price US$360. Maryland; American Society of Health-System Pharmacists: 2016. ISBN 978 1 58528 557 0…

How polypharmacy has become a medical burden worldwide

More patients than ever are taking a multitude of medicines and supplements, but this can cause more harm than good.…

Q&A: V Craig Jordan — the father of tamoxifen

V Craig Jordan, Dallas/Fort Worth living legend chair of cancer research, professor of both breast medical oncology and molecular and cellular oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, is best known as “the father of tamoxifen”.…

FDA approves first buprenorphine implant for opioid dependence

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first buprenorphine implant for the maintenance treatment of opioid dependence in adults, a treatment that is being hailed as “a game changer”.…

Obeticholic acid gets US approval for rare liver disease

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug called Ocaliva (obeticholic acid) for patients with primary biliary cholangitis. …

First self-administered monthly injection for multiple sclerosis approved in the US

Zinbryta (daclizumab), the first once-monthly self-administered injection for multiple sclerosis (MS), has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.…

Poor antibiotic adherence increases risk of skin infection recurrence

Study suggests poor adherence to antibiotics could explain relapses seen in patients with skin infections.…

Proton-pump inhibitors increase risk of kidney damage

Use of proton-pump inhibitors increases the risk of long-term kidney damage, a study shows. …

Merger of Pfizer and Allergan collapses

Pfizer has called off its merger with Dublin-based Allergan because of changes to tax rules in the United States. The US$160bn deal, announced in November 2015, would have created the largest pharmaceutical company in the world.…

US study shows increase in risk of drug interactions

The proportion of older adults in the United States at risk of major drug-drug interactions increased from 8.4% to 15.1% over five years, according to an analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine.…