Attorneys general from four states are asking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to lift restrictions on mifepristone, a pill used in medication abortions. The request came Thursday from top officials in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. They said in a petition that the current rules make it too hard for doctors…  read on >  read on >

Immunotherapy combined with chemo can give people a fighting chance against stomach and esophageal cancers, a new clinical trial says. People treated with durvalumab and chemotherapy were much more likely to go into remission, according to clinical trial results published June 1 in  The New England Journal of Medicine. “This is a major step forward…  read on >  read on >

A repurposed diabetes drug can be an effective tool against fatty liver disease, a new clinical trial has found. Dapagliflozin helped people reduce fat levels in their liver and avoid liver scarring that comes with the condition, which doctors call metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, researchers reported June 4 in The BMJ. In fact, about…  read on >  read on >

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ordered a fresh safety review of mifepristone, a drug commonly used in medication abortions. He asked Dr. Marty Makary, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to “review the latest data.” The FDA has not said when the review will begin or…  read on >  read on >

Sweet! Synthetic sugars could be key to sussing out what type of snake venom is threatening a person’s life, researchers say. Specifically, researchers have developed a way to use these sugars to detect the venom of the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, according to a paper published recently in ACS Biomacromolecules. “Snake venoms are complex and detecting…  read on >  read on >

Having a family dog might decrease a baby’s risk of developing eczema later in childhood, a new evidence review says. Specifically, exposure to canines appears to influence a child’s genetic risk of eczema, by blunting skin inflammation, researchers reported June 4 in the journal Allergy. “We know that genetic make-up affects a child’s risk of…  read on >  read on >