Expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended authorization Tuesday of the first coronavirus pill to prevent high-risk people from developing severe illness in a divided vote that reflects the complicated mix of benefits and risks involved with a new and easy mode of treatment. Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics developed the drug, molnupiravir, as a five-day r...

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The heavily mutated omicron coronavirus variant is likely to spread further and poses a "very high" global risk, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which warned today that surges of COVID infections caused by the variant of concern could have "severe consequences" for some areas. No Omicron-linked deaths had yet been reported, though further research was needed t...

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A federal jury on Tuesday found three of the nation's biggest pharmacy chains, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart, liable for helping to fuel the U.S. opioid crisis — a decision that's expected to have legal repercussions as thousands of similar lawsuits move forward in courts across the country. Jurors concluded that the pharmacies contributed to a so-called public nuisance in Lake and T...

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In response to urgent advocacy from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists, and other mental health organizations, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Friday announced that it is temporarily suspending specific Clozapine REMS program requirements.   Health care professionals continue to alert FDA about ongoing difficu...

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With CDC adding its approval just hours after FDA did the same on Friday, all U.S. adults are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine boosters at least six months after their initial immunization. The hope is that there will be less confusion over who can and cannot get the extra dose and more protection of the public as infections begin to creep up again. "[Boosters] have demonstrated the abili...

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