Recent Postings

Gepants, more formally known as small-molecule calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonists, are a new class of migraine drug that work by blocking the transmission of pain signals caused by the headaches. Because adequate long-term data are not available on safety and no study has directly established that gepants are safer and more effective than other types of migraine drugs, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has classified them as Do Not Use For Seven Years.

The editor’s column discusses the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s long-overdue ban on Red Dye No. 3, which has been known since the 1980s to cause cancer in male laboratory rats exposed to high levels of the dye.

Learn about a new observational study from British Columbia, Canada showing that methadone and buprenorphine-naloxone are similarly effective to treat opioid use disorder but that patients treated with methadone are at lower risk of discontinuing treatment.

The diuretic (water pill) spironolactone reduces the risk of death and cardiovascular complications in patients with severe heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (ineffective heart muscle contraction). A new study finds, however, that routine use of spironolactone is not beneficial after an acute heart attack to reduce deaths or major cardiovascular complications.The diuretic (water pill) spironolactone reduces the risk of death and cardiovascular complications in patients with severe heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (ineffective heart muscle contraction). A new study finds, however, that routine use of spironolactone is not beneficial after an acute heart attack to reduce deaths or major cardiovascular complications.

Learn about the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, its effectiveness and adverse events, and the importance of receiving at least one 2024-2025 mRNA vaccine. Persons who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and those over 65 years of age are especially encouraged to be fully vaccinated and receive regular booster vaccinations.

A new guideline funded by the Endocrine Society recommends against empiric vitamin D supplementation to prevent diseases in healthy adults younger than 75 years, although such supplementation may be helpful in other populations, including individuals 75 years of age and older.

The editor’s column discusses three potential reforms for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in addition to eliminating industry user fees: restricting the revolving door between working at the FDA and working in industry, more rigorous marketing standards for medical devices, and more information and increased transparency about the FDA’s regulatory processes.

Laboratory-developed tests — diagnostic products for clinical use that are designed, manufactured and used within a single clinical laboratory — are widely used in medicine. Learn about a new FDA regulation, finalized in 2024, that will allow the agency to increase its authority over laboratory-developed tests to improve their safety and effectiveness.

In September 2024 the FDA announced that all approved immediate-release formulations of the opioid analgesic fentanyl, also known as transmucosal fentanyl, would be removed from the U.S. market by the end of the month. Learn about these risky fentanyl “candy” drugs and why the FDA should never have approved them in the first place.

Xanomeline-trospium (Cobenfy), a recently approved drug for schizophrenia, blocks different nervous system receptors than previous drugs. The clinical trials of xanomeline-trospium were only five weeks in duration and did not compare the drug to second-generation antipsychotic drugs. Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has classified the drug as Do Not Use for Seven Years.

The “from the editor” column discusses the problems with FDA user fees and why Congress should end user-fee-based funding of the agency and restore full funding with public funds. You may be surprised to learn that 48% of the FDA budget in fiscal year 2024 was provided by $3.3 billion in industry user fees.

Dupilumab (DUPIXENT) is a recently approved add-on maintenance treatment for adults with inadequately controlled eosinophilic chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a form of the lung disease involving an inflammatory response from a type of white blood cell. The drug is a monoclonal antibody that is injected subcutaneously (under the skin). It should only be considered by patients with eosinophilic COPD and for whom other treatments have failed to adequately control flare-ups.

Granted accelerated approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2016, obeticholic acid (OCALIVA) is an expensive oral drug that is a second-line treatment for adults with a liver disease known as primary biliary cholangitis. Learn about the lack of benefit of obeticholic acid, the drug’s safety concerns, and why the FDA should immediately rescind its accelerated approval.

A 2024 study published in the BMJ compared the efficacy and tolerability of several oral migraine drugs. The study found that some older drugs performed as well or better than newer, more expensive drugs.

The FDA recently provided an update on marijuana (cannabis) use, including the clinical implications of the medical and recreational use of marijuana-related products. In 2024 the Drug Enforcement Administration proposed a rule that would move marijuana to Schedule III, a classification for drugs and other substances with an intermediate potential for physical or psychological dependence. There are two FDA-approved drugs derived from marijuana with narrow indications.