Contaminated feed inquest conclusions highlight concerns over lack of requirement for providers to report problems
More babies in England could die from issues caused by unlicensed medicines if providers are not required to report problems, a coroner has warned.
The conclusions were reached at the end of an inquest held after three infants died due to receiving contaminated feed.
Continue reading...Pharmaceutical’s weight loss pill described as ‘underwhelming’, also piling pressure on share price
AstraZeneca shares tumbled on Tuesday wiping £14bn off the value of Britain’s biggest drug maker, after a report that dozens of senior executives at its China unit could be implicated in an insurance fraud case in the country’s pharmaceutical sector.
Also putting pressure on the share price, early data on AstraZeneca’s experimental weight loss pill published on Monday was described as “somewhat underwhelming” by analysts at Deutsche Bank, who reiterated their “sell” rating on the stock.
Continue reading...‘Surprising’ finding by Australian-led study is first recorded instance of one antibiotic causing resistance to another in a different class
The rise of an almost untreatable superbug has been linked to a common antibiotic, an Australian-led study has found.
The study – published in Nature – found that rifaximin, an antibiotic used to treat liver disease, causes resistance to another antibiotic, daptomycin.
Continue reading...Private equity firm CD&R revealed to be in exclusive talks to buy 50% stake in consumer healthcare arm Opella
The French government has warned a US private equity firm buying the consumer healthcare arm of the drugmaker Sanofi that it faces penalties of more than €100m if it does not keep production and jobs in France.
Sanofi is splitting off Opella, which makes the paracetamol brand Doliprane, the laxative Dulcolax and other over-the-counter medicines and vitamins. However, news of talks with the New York-based Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on 11 October prompted fears about French jobs and the loss of control to a foreign company.
Continue reading...British drugmaker agrees payment to resolve 80,000 cases alleging cancers were linked to drug known generically as ranitidine
The British drugmaker GSK has struck an agreement to make a payment of up to $2.2bn (£1.7bn) to resolve litigation brought in the US over its heartburn treatment Zantac.
The company said it had struck agreements with 10 plaintiff law firms who represent about 93%, roughly 80,000, of the US state court product liability cases pending against it.
Continue reading...Closure of hundreds of outlets hitting rural areas, older people and deprived communities hardest, according to Healthwatch England
High street pharmacies are closing at such an alarming rate that it threatens the drive to use them instead of GPs to care for millions of people, the NHS’s patient champion warns today.
A total of 436 community pharmacies in England shut permanently last year and there were also 13,863 temporary closures, which stopped patients from obtaining health advice and medication.
Cheshire and Merseyside ICB saw the most permanent closures last year – 51
The North East and North Cumbria ICB had the highest number of temporary closures – 1,438
The same area also saw the highest number of hours lost to temporary closures – 4,054
And pharmacies in the Norfolk and Waveney ICB area shut temporarily for the longest number of hours on average – 17.48
Continue reading...Take Home Naloxone program, which allows access without a prescription, sees rise in use after multiple reports of people who unknowingly used laced drugs and died
Demand for a life-saving opioid overdose drug has doubled in one year as a “whole new cohort” of stimulant and hallucinogenic users, fearful of taking lethally laced narcotics, have rushed to get the medication.
Prior to a recent spike in overdose deaths, regular users of illicit opioids were the predominant users of naloxone, which can rapidly reverse an overdose.
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Continue reading...Experts call for more research into ‘off-label’ medications, and supply chain alternatives not driven by profit motive
Several crucial medicines for pregnant women are in shortage in Australia because of a “perfect storm”, experts warn, whereby the only drugs registered as safe for pregnancy are old and less profitable to pharmaceutical companies discontinuing their distribution amid manufacturing disruptions since the pandemic.
An editorial published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday called on the government to create a body responsible for registering, importing and manufacturing critical medications for use during pregnancy, independent of the need to obtain a profit.
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Continue reading...Detentions involve Chinese citizens who marketed cancer drugs for firm’s oncology division
Chinese police have reportedly detained five current and former AstraZeneca employees as part of an investigation into possible breaches related to data privacy and importing unlicensed medications.
The detentions took place earlier this summer, and targeted Chinese citizens who marketed cancer drugs for the oncology division of the British pharmaceutical company, according to Bloomberg.
Continue reading...Campaigners hail decision to give thousands of sufferers access to new set of drugs known as ‘modulators’
Alix Oxlade was 30 weeks into her pregnancy when scans showed fluid building up in the stomach and bowels of her unborn son, Rufus. The cause was unclear, though there was an early suspect: cystic fibrosis.
One of the most common inherited illnesses in the west, cystic fibrosis is caused by a defective protein that allows mucus to build up in the lungs, bowels and other organs and can lead to chronic infections that worsen through life. Tests subsequently showed Alix and her partner, Ben, who live in East Yorkshire, were both carriers of the disease.
Continue reading...Health leaders warn that global response to virus is test case for equity and preparation for future pandemics
A failure to show solidarity with African countries at the heart of the mpox outbreak will put the world at risk and harm preparations for future pandemics, health leaders have said.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday declared an international public health emergency in the face of rising cases that are spreading beyond the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the virus is endemic.
Continue reading...Experts say addiction patients are being treated as second-class citizens as ‘essential’ Pabrinex is withdrawn
Doctors have warned that a severe shortage of an “essential” medicine used to help protect alcoholics from degenerative brain conditions could disproportionately affect “some of the most vulnerable” in society.
Pabrinex, a multivitamin injection, is used to protect heavy drinkers from conditions such as Wernicke’s encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome, which can have symptoms similar to dementia. Doctors are concerned the incidence of these debilitating conditions may increase as a result of the shortages.
Continue reading...Danish company, which also makes Ozempic, faces increasing competition from US rival Eli Lilly
Novo Nordisk has cut its annual profit expectations after posting weaker-than-expected sales of its weight-loss drug Wegovy, fuelling investor concerns over growing competition and sending its shares lower.
The Danish drugmaker’s market value has soared over the past year, making it the most valuable company in Europe, on the back of the success of its obesity and diabetes injections Wegovy and Ozempic, used by celebrities including Elon Musk and Oprah Winfrey. However, the company is facing increasing competition from its US rival Eli Lilly’s drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro.
Continue reading...Poll reveals emergency contraception, free prescription deliveries and extended opening hours among services hit
Pharmacies across England are unable to provide critical NHS and public health services owing to the overwhelming financial and operational pressures they are facing, according to research.
A poll of pharmacy owners representing more than 2,100 pharmacies found that more than 96% of respondents said they had stopped providing locally commissioned services over the past 12 months.
Continue reading...Analysis suggests extent of problem UN estimates is causing 500,000 deaths a year in sub-Saharan region
A fifth of medicines in Africa could be substandard or fake, according to a major research project, raising the alarm over a problem that could be contributing to the deaths of countless patients.
Researchers from Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia analysed 27 studies in the review and found, of the 7,508 medicine samples included, 1,639 failed at least one quality test and were confirmed to be substandard or falsified.
Continue reading...Vermont senator will grill CEO of Danish pharma giant whose drugs cost Americans 10 times more than abroad
The blockbuster weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic are arguably as omnipresent in the American zeitgeist as Taylor Swift or the iPhone. The drugs and others in its class are associated with the sparkle of Hollywood, on the lips of Oprah and considered transformative by doctors.
But the giant market for drugs like Wegovy, including not just the roughly 11% of adults who have diabetes but also the 42% of adults who have obesity, has conjured one of the demons of American healthcare – price.
Continue reading...Former infectious disease head says big pharma tried to poach him while he was nation’s Covid chief
Before Anthony Fauci retired from his lengthy run as the US government’s top infectious disease doctor, major pharmaceutical companies tried to lure him away from his post by offering him seven-figure jobs – but he turned them down because he “cared about … the health of the country” too much, he says in a new interview.
Fauci’s comments on his loyalty to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (Niad) – which he directed for 38 years before retiring in December 2022 – come only a couple of weeks after he testified to Congress about receiving “credible death threats” from far-right extremists over his efforts to slow the spread of Covid-19 at the beginning of the pandemic.
Continue reading...Biochemist found cholesterol-lowering compound in 1973 and the drugs have prolonged millions of lives
The scientist whose work led to the creation of statins, a chemical that prevents heart attacks and strokes, has died aged 90.
Akira Endo found the first cholesterol-lowering compound in 1973 in a lab in Tokyo. The Japanese biochemist was said to have been inspired by Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1928, which lead him to study mould or fungi in order to develop medicines.
Continue reading...Lost documents prevented victims from finding out the truth, official inquiry told
Disastrous failures that caused the contaminated blood scandal were denied by ministers for decades after officials destroyed, lost and blocked access to key documents, memos submitted to the official inquiry reveal.
Several batches of files involving the work of a blood safety advisory committee were shredded as the government faced the threat of legal action, documents show. Patients who were given contaminated blood when they were children have also told the infected blood inquiry how their hospital medical files were destroyed or initially withheld.
Continue reading...UK medicines regulator says information on boxes of montelukast will alert users to risk of mood and behaviour changes
More than 500 adverse neuropsychiatric reactions have been reported in children under the age of nine involving an asthma drug which is to get new warnings over its risks.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced last week that more prominent warnings would be added to the information provided on boxes of the asthma drug montelukast, sold under the brand name Singulair.
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