The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday warned health care workers to look out for patients who may have been exposed to a potentially deadly animal sedative, possibly through illicit drug use. The veterinary medication xylazine is sometimes added to fentanyl, heroin or other drugs, after either being diverted from the legal animal supply…  read on >  read on >

TUESDAY, Nov. 8, 2022 (HealthDay News) – Some patients with high blood pressure can’t get it under control with standard medications, but a new study shows an experimental drug is up to the task of treating these tough-to-treat cases. Why do some folks struggle more with managing their high blood pressure than others? When the…  read on >  read on >

Patients with heart failure are often prescribed a diuretic or “water pill” to prevent fluid buildup. A new study has found that two often-prescribed medications work equally well at reducing deaths. “Given that the two different therapies provide the same effect on outcomes, we shouldn’t spend time switching patients from one to the other, and…  read on >  read on >

Folks taking dietary supplements intended to help their heart health are just wasting their money, a new clinical trial suggests. Six supplements widely promoted as heart-healthy — fish oil, cinnamon, garlic, turmeric, plant sterols and red yeast rice — didn’t do a thing to lower “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol or improve heart health, researchers…  read on >  read on >

The antiviral pill Paxlovid not only reduces hospitalization and death after catching COVID-19: New research shows it also cuts the chances of long COVID by roughly 25%. The drug, which combines a newer antiviral called nirmatrelvir with an older medication known as ritonavir, delivered that added bonus to patients, at least the mostly older white…  read on >  read on >

THURSDAY, Nov. 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) – A weight-loss drug approved for adults may soon become an option for teens struggling with obesity. Young people who received the drug Wegovy (semaglutide) were able to lose an average of 14.7% of their starting body weight in a new clinical trial. More than 40% of the youths…  read on >  read on >

Years of litigation over the opioid epidemic could end soon, as the national pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens announced Wednesday that each company has agreed to a nearly $5 billion settlement. While neither of the companies admitted wrongdoing, the settlements are part of the fight over the drug industry’s role in the epidemic that has…  read on >  read on >