Amazon launched its Amazon Pharmacy service on Tuesday, meaning it is now selling prescription medications in the US. Amazon said Prime members would get perks including two-day delivery and big discounts on generic and brand-name drugs. Prime members can get discounts of up to 80% on generic drugs and 40% […]

Celebrity Khloe Kardashian faced a wave of social media backlash last week after posting a sponsored ad for a migraine medication. Critics raised ethical concerns about the star being paid by “Big Pharma,” and flooded the hashtag with unrelated or satirical content in protest. The Kardashians have a history of […]

Some of the authors of a massive observational study of the antimalarial medication hydroxychloroquine published in The Lancet have retracted it. The study, published in May, had initially found that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine did not appear to benefit coronavirus patients who took them and instead found that those who received […]

Lady Gaga appeared on Oprah’s “2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus” tour Saturday, when she discussed her battle with fibromyalgia and post-traumatic stress disorder after multiple sexual assaults. The award-winning singer and actress said taking an antipsychotic medication “helped me tremendously” and that she would “spiral very frequently” without it. […]

A new project from the think tank Helena aims to find new treatments for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and concussions by taking another look at drugs that already exist. This approach, called “generic drug repurposing,” can be faster and cheaper than other ways of developing drugs, but isn’t financially incentivized […]

A 25-year-old woman was hospitalized with blue skin, shortness of breath, and dizziness after using an over-the-counter pain medication for a toothache. Doctors said the condition was a rare, sometimes life-threatening reaction to benzocaine, a medication commonly used as a topical anesthetic. The woman’s blue skin was caused by methemoglobinemia, […]

New research has found a significant link between anticholinergic drugs – including common antidepressants– and risk of dementia in the long term. Daily use of one of these drugs for three consecutive years or more increased the likelihood of a dementia diagnosis, particularly for middle-aged and elderly patients. Anticholinergic drugs […]

People who regularly use marijuana could need higher levels of sedation medication before surgery, according to a new study. Researchers believe cannabis may potentially desensitize certain receptors in the body that affect how sedatives are processed, but more research needs to be done to see if a direct link exists. […]

New medications that treat disease at the genetic level, called gene therapies, are incredibly promising. They could also come with million-dollar price tags. Many more gene therapies are expected to become available in the coming years, but experts say the US health system isn’t prepared. New gene therapies could present […]

Though all medications have an expiration date on their packaging, most stay potent long after that date. Tablet medications like ibuprofen remain effective for years after being opened. Probiotics and liquid medicines deteriorate faster. Just like food, medication is required by law to have an expiration date on its packaging. […]

I’ve struggled with anxiety and panic attacks my whole life. It wasn’t until I was 20 years old that a psychiatrist diagnosed me with a panic disorder. I’ve been on anti-anxiety medicine for almost two years and it has allowed me to take control of my life back. In Gloria […]

Retail price prescription medication is prohibitively expensive. If you have insurance, your policy still doesn’t always cover as much as you’d like. Blink Health is a no-commitment, no-fee service that offers access to over 15,000 medications for a fraction of their retail price. Here’s the quick and easy process: search […]

Several companies make DNA tests that claim to tell you how well you’ll respond to certain antidepressants based on your genetic profile. Two personalised medicine companies – Assurex and Genomind – offer some of the most popular tests and work with physicians and pharmacists to provide them to patients. A […]

Nurx, a Silicon Valley prescription drug delivery startup that once solely dispensed birth control, is launching a new service that allows patients who want HIV-prevention drug Truvada to do the required testing at home. It’s a big move for the company, which recently raised $US36 million and added Chelsea Clinton […]

On Monday, a federal judge found US government officials in violation of state child welfare laws for putting detained migrant children on mind-altering drugs without their guardians’ consent. In court filings, children claimed they were either forcibly injected with drugs or made to take pills that staff members told them […]

More than 63,000 Americans died of opioid drug overdoses last year, more than the number killed in car crashes. On Wednesday, the FDA approved the first drug designed to treat the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, which can be painful and hook users in a potentially deadly cycle of addiction. Called […]

“Pharma bro” Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison for securities fraud on Friday. Shkreli is best known for raising the price of a decades-old drug by more than 5,000%. But Shkreli’s actions didn’t exist in a vacuum. Since outrage started pouring in around Shkreli’s actions, the debate […]