Pharmaceuticals Archives - The Westside Story

FDA offers new service to help cancer patients access unapproved treatments

Jun 5, 2019

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is starting a program to facilitate requests for cancer patients to access drugs that have not been approved yet. The program is part of a wider effort to make its expa...

In a first, a major company and its executives face criminal charges in opioid crisis

West Side Story

Apr 23, 2019

Health, Science

For the first time, a major drug distribution company and several executives are facing criminal charges in New York for their role in the opioid drug crisis, according to NBC News. Among the top drug distribut...

Digital monitoring of drug adherence raises serious ethical questions

West Side Story

Mar 16, 2019

Health, Opinion, Science

Recent years have seen many different efforts to leverage digital technology to address the widespread issue of non-adherence to medication prescriptions. But critics, including many experts, argue they’re neit...

Clinical trials offer new hope for cystic fibrosis patients

West Side Story

Oct 20, 2018

Health, Innovation, Science

Two new studies on a pair of triple-drug treatments may represent the first effective treatment for most patients with cystic fibrosis, a chronic, incurable condition that is frequently fatal. Researchers have ...

New analysis documents ‘severe’ withdrawal from antidepressants

West Side Story

Oct 3, 2018

Health, Science

A new UK report indicates that most patients taking antidepressants will experience substantial withdrawal symptoms when they discontinue use, according to The Guardian. For many, these withdrawal symptoms coul...

The 23andMe deal with GlaxoSmithKline raises privacy and ethics questions

West Side Story

Aug 5, 2018

Innovation, Opinion, Science

The pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline announced a move late last month to invest $300 million in the genetic testing company 23andMe, in addition to a deal giving exclusive access to its collection of geneti...

Trump signs bill allowing terminal patients to bypass FDA to try new drugs

West Side Story

May 31, 2018

Health, Policy, Science

President Trump signed the controversial “right to try” bill on Wednesday, which will allow terminally ill patients to access experimental treatments without going through the Food and Drug Administration, acco...

FDA approves first drug designed to treat migraines

West Side Story

May 18, 2018

Health, Innovation, Science

The Food and Drug Administration approved the first medication designed specifically to treat migraine headaches on Thursday, according to the New York Times. The approval represents a landmark development for ...

Purdue’s move to stop marketing OxyContin to doctors is too little too late

West Side Story

Feb 12, 2018

Health, Opinion, Science

Purdue Pharmaceuticals announced Saturday that it would stop marketing its painkiller OxyContin directly to doctors, according to NBC News, following lawsuits over its role in the wave of opiate drug addiction ...

Stronger action is needed to combat drug resistant microbes

West Side Story

May 21, 2017

Health, Opinion, Policy, Science

Already, a shocking 23,000 people die in the US each year from bacteria that have evolved a resistance to existing antibiotics. These drug-resistant infections kill an estimated 700,000 people each year globall...

Tagged Pharmaceuticals