Medicine

CDC Issues Final Approval For New COVID Boosters

CNN reports: Everyone ages 6 months and older should get an updated Covid-19 vaccine, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday, to help lower the risk of severe illness, hospitalization or death from the coronavirus. Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the agency, signed off on recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices or ACIP, a panel …

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CDC Panel Issues Broad Approval To New Boosters

NPR reports: A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention backed the broad use of new COVID-19 vaccines, as cases of the respiratory illness rise. The advisers voted 13-1 to recommend the vaccines for people ages 6 months and older. While the benefits appear to be greatest for the oldest and youngest people, the benefits of …

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FDA Advisors: Popular Oral Decongestants Don’t Work

The Associated Press reports: The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is likely no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Tuesday against the effectiveness of the ingredient found in …

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Moderna: New Booster Effective Against Latest Variant

Reuters reports: Moderna on Wednesday said clinical trial data showed its updated COVID-19 vaccine will likely be effective against the highly-mutated BA.2.86 subvariant of the coronavirus that has raised fears of a resurgence of infections. The company said its shot generated an 8.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies in humans against BA.2.86, which is being tracked by the World Health Organization …

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Study: Single Mushroom Dose Greatly Eases Depression

Bloomberg News reports: A single dose of psilocybin can lead to a “rapid, robust, and sustained reduction” in symptoms of severe depression when taken in conjunction with psychotherapy, according to a new study. Patients across the US were given either a 25mg dose of the drug, found in magic mushrooms, or a B vitamin, before spending between seven and 10 …

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WH Names 10 Meds Subject To Medicare Negotiations

Reuters reports: The Biden administration on Tuesday released its list of 10 prescription medicines that will be subject to the first-ever price negotiations by the U.S. Medicare health program that covers 66 million people, with big-selling blood thinner Eliquis from Bristol Myers Squibb. President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law last year, allows the Medicare health …

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Five Dead In Florida Due To Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: Five people are confirmed dead in the Tampa Bay area due to a rare, flesh-eating bacteria in the waters. According to Florida Health, Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that naturally occurs in warm, brackish seawater and requires salt. There are two confirmed deaths in Hillsborough County, one in Sarasota County, one in Polk County, and one …

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YouTube Begins Mass Takedown Of Medical Misinfo

Posted today to YouTube’s corporate blog: In the years since we began our efforts to make YouTube a destination for high-quality health content, we’ve learned critical lessons about developing Community Guidelines in line with local and global health authority guidance on topics that pose serious real-world risks, such as misinformation on COVID-19, vaccines, reproductive health, harmful substances, and more. We’re …

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Red Cross Lifts Ban On Blood Donations By Gay Men

Axios reports: More gay and bisexual men will be able to donate blood beginning Monday as the Red Cross starts implementing a historic rule change approved by federal authorities earlier this year. It helps close the chapter on the Food and Drug Administration’s blood donor restrictions for men who have sex with men, which had been denounced as discriminatory by …

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NIH Launches Clinical Trials For Long COVID Treatments

CBS News reports: Two new clinical trials to test potential treatments for long COVID are now set to launch, the National Institutes of Health said Monday, opening enrollment for the first of an array of federally-funded studies aimed at evaluating treatments for long-term symptoms still faced by many COVID-19 survivors. They will begin with a study into using Pfizer’s Paxlovid …

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CDC Issues Warning On Rise In Florida Leprosy Cases

The Hill reports: Health officials say that cases of leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, are surging in Central Florida. In a news release Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that Central Florida has accounted for 81 percent of reported cases in the state and almost one-fifth of reported cases nationwide. Authorities said that several cases …

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CDC To Issue Guidance On Preventive Med For STDs

The Washington Post reports: Public health officials are deploying a powerful new weapon in the war against rising sexually transmitted infections: a common antibiotic that works as a morning-after pill. It is the latest advancement as the sexual health field shifts to preventive medicine — not just condoms, abstinence and tests — as the best hope for quashing the pathogens …

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FDA Approves First Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill

The New York Times reports: The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a birth control pill to be sold without a prescription for the first time in the United States, a milestone that could significantly expand access to contraception. The medication, called Opill, will become the most effective birth control method available over the counter — more effective at …

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FDA Approves Drug That May Slow Down Alzheimer’s

NPR reports: The Food and Drug Administration has fully approved the first drug shown to slow down Alzheimer’s disease. The action means that Leqembi, whose generic name is lecanemab, should be widely covered by the federal Medicare health insurance program, which primarily serves adults age 65 and older. So more people who are in the early stages of the disease …

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Gilead Wins Antitrust Suit Over Generic HIV Meds

Courthouse News reports: Pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences triumphed over consumers Friday in a closely watched, yearslong class action that claimed the company deliberately manipulated the market in order to profit off of its highly-priced HIV treatment drugs. Closing arguments in a six-week trial wrapped Wednesday, leaving a federal jury to consider weeks of evidence regarding the pharmaceutical giant’s conduct and …

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CDC Warning: US Sees First Malaria Cases In 20 Years

From the Centers for Disease Control: CDC is collaborating with two U.S. state health departments with ongoing investigations of locally acquired mosquito-transmitted Plasmodium vivax malaria cases. There is no evidence to suggest the cases in the two states (Florida and Texas) are related. In Florida, four cases within close geographic proximity have been identified, and active surveillance for additional cases …

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FDA Issues Guidance For Psychedelic Drug Trials

Axios reports: Federal regulators are laying out guidance for psychedelic drug trials for the first time, in a move that could encourage the mainstreaming of substances like magic mushrooms and LSD as behavioral health treatments. Psychedelics are turning into a multi-billion industry and gaining widespread acceptance after decades of concerns about recreational use of the products — and the high …

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FDA Panel Recommends COVID Vaccine Booster For Fall

NBC News reports: Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday recommended updating the Covid vaccines to target a circulating strain of the virus, while pushing for newer vaccines that provide longer-lasting protection. The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted unanimously in support of tweaking the shots to target an XBB strain, as well as dropping …

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TODAY: Federal Appeals Court Hears Abortion Pill Case

Reuters reports: A federal appeals court in New Orleans will hear arguments on Wednesday in a closely watched case brought by anti-abortion activists seeking to ban the abortion pill mifepristone, with potentially far-reaching impact on abortion access across the United States. The Biden administration will urge a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn last …

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NIH Begins Trial On mRNA-Based Universal Flu Vaccine

CNBC reports: Patients are now enrolling in an early stage clinical trial to test a universal flu vaccine based on messenger RNA technology, the National Institutes of Health announced Monday. Scientists hope the vaccine will protect against a wide variety of flu strains and provide long-term immunity so people do not have to receive a shot every year. Messenger RNA, …

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