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Pain relief drugs offer more choices for women during childbirth

Choice and control are important factors for ensuring a positive childbirth experience, yet until recently, little was known about the impact of alternative administrations of fentanyl – one of the pain relief drugs used during labour– on both mother and baby.

1 Jul 2020

Quality improvement initiative at Children's National Hospital reduces antibiotic use

A quality improvement initiative in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Children's National Hospital led to a significant reduction in treatment with intravenous vancomycin, an antibiotic used for resistant gram positive infections, which is often associated with acute kidney injury.

1 Jul 2020

Alternative antibiotics for unverified penicillin allergies likely unnecessary

Hospitalized patients who report an allergy to penicillin are often prescribed alternative antibiotics for infection that can be harmful, even though diagnostic testing or evaluations would show that the vast majority of these reported allergies could be disproven, according to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital.

30 Jun 2020

Study shows women are more likely to be prescribed with opioid analgesics

Women are significantly more likely to receive prescriptions of opioid analgesics. Read the study, which was performed in a nationally representative sample of adults in the U.S., in Journal of Women's Health.

30 Jun 2020

HPV vaccine policies may lead to higher vaccination rates, reduce cancer rates

A UCLA-led study has found that in 2 of 3 states and jurisdictions with policies that require students entering school to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine, vaccination rates among 13-to-17-year-olds were significantly higher than in surrounding states without such policies.

30 Jun 2020

Public-sector basic research is the most efficient, leads to low drug prices

Is the basic research that goes into the development of new drugs more efficiently conducted by public-sector scientists, pharmaceutical firms, or independent private laboratories?

29 Jun 2020

Physician prescribing of muscle relaxants has tripled from 2005 to 2016, study shows

Office visits for ongoing prescribing of skeletal muscle relaxant drugs tripled from 2005 to 2016, according to a new study from researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

26 Jun 2020

Understanding dexamethasone’s role in treating COVID-19

While the steroid medicine dexamethasone may help people with serious COVID-19 illness, it should only be given to people very ill in hospital and shouldn’t be taken by anyone to try to prevent COVID-19 or for less severe cases.

26 Jun 2020

Study shows generic drug does not slow kidney disease

Historically, half or more of people with type 1 diabetes develop kidney disease, which frequently progresses to kidney failure, requiring dialysis treatment or kidney transplantation for survival, according to a study in Diabetes Care.

26 Jun 2020

Entos Pharmaceuticals selects two lead DNA vaccine candidates for COVID-19

Entos Pharmaceuticals, a healthcare biotechnology company developing nucleic acid medicines with its Fusogenix drug delivery platform, today announced the selection of two lead candidates for a pan-coronavirus Fusogenix DNA vaccine from its prototyping program launched at the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

25 Jun 2020

Biological therapy may decrease the risk of severe COVID-19

A recent observational study by Spanish researchers, currently available on the medRxiv preprint server, suggests that patients with immune-mediated diseases who receive biological therapy may have a lower risk for severe manifestations of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

25 Jun 2020

New approaches to manage Canada's national emergency stockpile system

To manage Canada's emergency stockpile of medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE), the government could consider several approaches, including a "prime-vendor" model selling directly to health care organizations to minimize financial and equipment waste, according to an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)

25 Jun 2020

FDA approved drugs active against COVID-19

With the rapid spread of the virus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) throughout the world, causing the current COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgent need for new antivirals and vaccines to combat its spread. The current study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 shows some of the results of the extensive repurposing of already FDA-approved drugs.

23 Jun 2020

Research highlights critical barriers that can limit patients' access to medications

Nearly 70 percent of patients have made personal or financial sacrifices to afford prescribed medications according to new research released by CoverMyMeds, highlighting the impact of one of the most common medication access challenges.

23 Jun 2020

Study: Increased use of human antibiotics on rice crops may fuel antibiotic resistance

Farmers in parts of Asia are spraying antibiotics deemed "critical" for human medicine on rice crops, raising fears they may be fuelling antibiotic resistance, say researchers.

23 Jun 2020

Three vaccine candidates race to combat SARS-CoV-2

As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) ravages across the globe, scientists are racing to develop an effective vaccine to combat the viral infection. Caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the disease has infected nearly 9 million people.

22 Jun 2020

New therapy provides relief in patients with chronic low back pain

A new study has found that tanezumab, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits nerve activity, provides relief in patients with chronic low back pain, one of the leading reasons why people seek medical care and the number one cause of disability worldwide.

19 Jun 2020