Drugs & Pharmaceuticals

It would have been impossible to predict the efficiency of the COVID vaccination program at the newly-opened Fort Washington Armory location. It was amazing. Including the seat wiper.
Seven human health risk assessments of pharmaceuticals in drinking water in the U.S. and Canada were reviewed. And good news: None of these studies reported a potential health risk from exposure to pharmaceuticals in drinking water.
It has long been known that different people react differently to opioid drugs, and by a wide margin. This means that the same dose may be too high for one person and too low for another. The difference can be due to genetic differences in metabolism. Can science be used to determine not only the dose but also the best opioid for an individual?
It's no secret that NSAIDs come with a host of side effects. But how often? And how bad are they? A presentation at the 2020 PAINWeek Conference gives us some numbers. If taken at face value they are horrifying.
The COVID vaccine is out -- and no one needs it more than the elderly. But vaccines don't work as well in older people. A group at Oxford is trying to address this by adding a simple (but nasty-smelling) naturally-occurring chemical that makes damaged cells eat themselves.
After Pfizer's COVID vaccine was administered in the UK, two allergic reactions surfaced. Who’s to blame? The drug maker? I argue no. Pfizer could not possibly have known in advance whether these reactions would occur or, if so, how frequently. Why's that? Here's why.
Toilet paper always flies off the shelves when there's a crisis, whether it's real or perceived. But after nine months of COVID, there's a new "panic item": antacids. Here's why.
A study by a group from the Mayo Clinic in Arizona focuses on making it easier to dispose of unused opioid pills. I would argue that we need better disposal methods for opioids like a fulminating case of crabs. Here are both sides of the debate.
More than six months after the hype of repurposed COVID drugs, we have nothing. But this wasn't at all unexpected. Here's why.
Eric Topol is a cardiologist working in translational medicine, innovation, at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. He is an active commentator in healthcare. Here is his Twitter thread on Operation Warp Speed along with the vaccine development timeline.
Pfizer and Moderna are producing fewer but more effective (and pricier) vaccines, while AstraZeneca is making a greater number of less effective (and cheaper) vaccines.
We got some very good news in the past week. Vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna greatly exceeded expectations. But Drs. Seley-Radtke and Bloom argue in the Duluth News Tribune that antiviral drugs will still be needed, no matter how good the vaccines are.