The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil complaint against CVS Pharmacy Inc., accusing the nation’s largest pharmacy chain of unlawfully filling prescriptions for highly addictive opioids and violating federal health care laws.
According to a news rel...
Synthetic antibiotics that attack bacteria in two directions at once could be the solution for combatting antimicrobial-resistant bugs, a new study claims.
These dual-action a...
“Magic†mushrooms achieve their psychedelic effects by temporarily scrambling a brain network involved in introspective thinking like daydreaming and remembering, a new study reports.
Brain scans of people who took psilocybin -- the psychedelic drug in â€...
A study based on online Google searches suggests surging U.S. interest in microdosing psychedelics, such as psilocybin, as rules around the use of such drugs begin to relax.
But the safety of these drugs isn't entirely clear, said study lead author
People who eat more ultra-processed foods are more likely to suffer an early death, particularly from heart disease or diabetes, a new study war...
AI could help doctors cut back on the bewildering variety of medications that seniors frequently are prescribed, a new study suggests.
More than 40% of seniors are prescribed five or more meds, and this increases a person's risk of adverse
When settling into your senior years, you need to be especially careful when taking medicines, herbal remedies and supplements, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says.
That's because older adults are likely to use more prescription and over-the-counter medications, ...
Nurse practitioners are just as good as primary care doctors at avoiding potentially harmful prescriptions for older patients -- but both need to do better, a large, new study suggests.
Nurse practitioners (NPs) are registered nurses with advanced training in doing many ...
The drugstore chain Rite Aid has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, due largely to competition and thousands of lawsuits for its role in allegedly filling unlawful opioid prescriptions.
The company filed a notice Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sa...
Critics of a law that decriminalized drug possession in Oregon have blamed the policy for rising overdose deaths in the state, but a new study finds no evidence of that.
Researchers discovered that while drug overdose deaths have risen recently in Oregon, it appears the ...
Psilocybin, the active ingredient in "magic" mushrooms, is getting renewed interest as a potential treatment for various health conditions. Now, a new research review argues that migraines should be added to that list.
Psilocybin mushrooms have long been used recreationa...
Tornado damage to a Pfizer drug-making plant in North Carolina is unlikely to trigger drug shortages across the country, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says.
"We do not expect there to be any immediate significant impacts on supply, given the products are current...
Surviving a trip to the emergency room for an opioid overdose dramatically increases a patient's odds of dying in the year after, U.S. health officials reported Tuesday.
Of nearly 287,000 emergency room visits in 2016, more than 8,300 were for opioid overdoses. Of these,...
The supplement known as 5-HTP is available in both natural and synthetic versions and is used by some people to treat a variety of wellness issues.
Here's a look at what this supplement is, its safety profile, side effects and drug interactions, and the potential health ...
Television ads for drugs are filled with glowing images of people living their best lives, all thanks to that new med they've been prescribed.
But drugs being touted on TV often have little to no benefit compared to other treatments, a new study published o...
Made infamous as the club drug Special K, ketamine is nowadays being seen as a wonder drug for some folks with hard-to-treat depression.
However, a new study finds that some types of patients are more...
Costs for epilepsy medications in the United States are skyrocketing, outpacing inflation and straining federal insurers Medicare and Medicaid, according to new research.
Spending on antiseizure medications more than doubled in eight years for the government insurers, la...
It might be tempting to buy prescription medication online, but buyers should beware, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.
While some pharmacy websites operate legally and can offer convenience, privacy and lower costs, others may be selling unapproved, counterfe...
Ayahuasca, a powerful psychoactive drug derived from a South American plant, is a traditional Amazonian-based medicine and an increasingly popular hallucinogenic brew used by devotees worldwide.
But what is the ayahuasca experience really like?
Colorado voters have voted narrowly to approve the medical use of "magic mushrooms"in Colorado.
"I'm in awe of what we were able to accomplish,"s...
Smoking is an incredibly hard habit to break. Anne Levine of Baltimore can attest to that.
But Levine, 58, is getting help from a potential ...
Jon Kostas, a lifelong resident of New York City, started bar-hopping at age 13. At the height of his alcoholism, he was consuming as many as 30 drinks a night.
Desperate for a way out, Kostas, 32, turned to a new therapy: psilocybin -- the
If you think hallucinogens like LSD are a thing of the past, think again.
New research estimates that the use of mind-altering LSD rose from less than 1% in 2002 to 4% in 2019 among people aged 18 to 25. An...
Marijuana and hallucinogen use are at an all-time high among young adults, U.S. health officials reported Monday.
Compared to five or 10 years ago, the use of these drugs over the past year has risen significantly among 19- to 30-year-olds, according to the
If you need to take a pill, you might want to take it lying down -- on your right side, that is.
Researchers studying how body positioning affects the absorption of pills found that one taken when a person was lying on the right side speeded pills to the deepest part of ...
The Inflation Reduction Act is expected to bring out-of-pocket drug costs down for many U.S. seniors, but most of its benefits aren't immediate.
Under the law, Medicare will now be allowed to negotiate the cost of some drugs. That should eventually bring down out-of-pock...
Giving more patients at-home access to the opioid addiction treatment drug methadone during the COVID pandemic did not lead to more overdose deaths, a nationwide study shows.
The research, which covered the period from January 2019 to August 2021, found that the push to ...
Toking up increases your risk of landing in the hospital, a new study reports.
Recreational marijuana use was associated with 22% greater odds of needing to visit an emergency room or be hospitalized, Canadian researchers found.
A growing number of U.S. kids are attempting suicide by medication overdose - with the biggest increase seen among preteens, a recent study shows.
Researchers found that between 2015 and 2020, there was a 27% increase in overdose suicide or attempted suicide among U.S. c...
Psilocybin - the active component in "magic mushrooms" - may help rewire the brains of people with depression.
Psychedelics including psilocybin have shown promise in treating many mental health disorders in recent years, and a
A new clinical trial strengthens the case that ketamine -- once famous as a club drug -- can rapidly ease suicidal thoughts.
Researchers found that among 156 adults hospitalized for severe suicidal thoughts, those given two doses of ketamine often saw those disturbing id...
You smoked a joint an hour and a half ago. Now it's worn off enough that you feel fine to get behind the wheel.
But you're fooling yourself, a new study says. You're likely about to drive under the
Allopurinol, a frequently used gout medication, does not appear to drive up the risk for dying among gout patients who also struggle with chronic kidney disease, new research shows.
The finding is based on an analysis of two decades worth of British health records. And i...
Here's more evidence that marijuana may make driving more dangerous: As pot has been legalized in more countries and states, a greater number of people are driving intoxicated by the drug and crashing, researchers report.
THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, has been ...
The opioid addict you know might not be the college kid who has always dabbled in alcohol and drugs.
It could be your grandparent.
Opioid misuse doesn't discriminate by age -- and rates are rising steadily among adults aged 55 and up,
Many folks turn to pot to help them relax and get a good night's sleep, but new research finds the practice may do the exact opposite.
"I think [the results] were somewhat surprising because, in our mind, anecdotally cannabis seems to help with sleep, but "¦ the evidenc...
Tony Head was depressed and fearing death from stage 4 prostate cancer when, as part of a supervised scientific trial, he took a large dose of the psychedelic agent in "magic mushrooms," psilocybin.
Head donned a mask and headphones to shut out the world around him, and ...
A wearable device that could inject a lifesaving antidote for an opioid overdose might be on the horizon.
A new study shows that the device, worn on the stomach like an insulin pump, can detect when someone stops breathing from an overdose and inject the drug naloxone to...
Addictive opioid painkillers aren't the only option for patients seeking relief following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee reconstruction, researchers say.
As the United States wrestles with skyrocketing rates of opioid abuse and drug overdose deaths, the findings m...
New government data confirms what many have suspected: The pandemic has prompted a record number of drug overdose deaths, with more than 100,000 Americans succumbing to addiction as COVID-19 raged across the country.
That figure is almost 30% higher than the previous yea...
A measure designed to lower prescription drug costs for seniors has been added to President Joe Biden's social safety net and climate change bill that Democratic leaders hope to bring to a House vote this week.
For the first time, the measure would enable the federal gov...
Teenagers have followed the vaping trend into marijuana use, with recent studies chronicling a boom in pot vaping among adolescents in the United States and Canada, researchers report.
The percentage of teens who've experimented with vaped pot has more than doubled in re...
Researchers may be one step closer to developing the equivalent of a Breathalyzer for detecting marijuana use.
In an early study, scientists found that their rapid test was able to reliably detect THC in people's saliva in under 5 minutes. THC, short for tetrahydrocannab...
People buying pills that look like prescription opioid painkillers or stimulants who are not buying them from a licensed pharmacy may be buying a lethal drug, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warned this week.
This was the first public safety alert the DEA has is...
Marijuana use by mothers-to-be may have increased by as much as one-quarter during the pandemic, a new study suggests.
Researchers found a substantial increase in the number of women in Northern California using pot early in their pregnancies after the pandemic emerged c...
Hospitalized opioid addicts die at a rate similar to people who have a heart attack after leaving the hospital.
Nearly 8% of patients addicted to opioids died within 12 months of hospital discharge, according to researchers from Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)....
Fully half of all young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may also battle alcohol or drug abuse.
And folks with ADHD who have a history of depression or anxiety are particularly vulnerable to substance abuse problems, a new study showed.
...
Overdose deaths linked to illicit "designer" benzodiazepines have surged in the United States, as underground labs crank out new synthetic variations on prescription tranquilizers like Valium, Xanax and Ativan.
Overdose deaths involving illicit benzos increased more than...
There's been a sharp rise in opioid-related cardiac arrests in the United States and they now equal those associated with other prime causes, a new study finds.
Of more than 1.4 million cardiac arrest hospitalizations nationwide between 2012 and 2018, more than 43,000 (3...
Leaky sewer pipes are to blame for large amounts of human medicines getting into rivers, lakes and other bodies of water, a new study reveals.
Researchers found that tens of thousands of doses of drugs get into Chesapeake Bay in Maryland every year due to seeping sewer p...