TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Generic drugmaker Sandoz announced plans Thursday to start selling an alternative to the EpiPen in the U.S. early next year. The EpiPen injector is used to halt life-threatening allergic reactions to insect bites, nuts and other foods. Brand-name EpiPen, which dominates the market, has been in short supply since spring because…
FDA Approves Return of Popular Primatene Mist Asthma Inhaler
A new version of the once-popular asthma inhaler Primatene Mist will soon return to U.S. stores. The Food and Drug Administration approved the over-the-counter aerosol inhaler late Wednesday. It’s for temporary relief of mild, intermittent asthma symptoms in people ages 12 and up. The original Primatene Mist was discontinued seven years ago because the inhaler’s…
Prescription Drugs, Lower Taxes, Power J&J 3Q Beat
A jump in prescription drug sales and a sharply reduced tax bill boosted Johnson & Johnson’s third-quarter sales and profit, which beat Wall Street expectations. The world’s biggest maker of health care products on Tuesday also slightly raised its profit forecast for the year. The New Brunswick, N.J., maker of baby products, biotech drugs and…
Hospital Groups Launch Own Company to Make Generic Drugs
Several major hospital groups Thursday launched their own generic drug company to tackle chronic shortages and high prices. The new company, Civica Rx, plans to start with 14 widely used hospital drugs long in short supply. The company isn’t disclosing the drugs’ names for competitive reasons, but they include a mix of generic pills, patches…
FDA Plans To Ease OTC Approvals For Some Prescription Drugs
U.S. regulators proposed new guidelines Tuesday to make it easier for some common medicines to be sold without a prescription—and more convenient for consumers to get them. The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating ways to make sure patients don’t take an inappropriate over-the-counter drug, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. That could include…
FDA OKs 1st Drug To Treat Smallpox, In Case Of Terror Attack
U.S. regulators Friday approved the first treatment for smallpox — a deadly disease that was wiped out four decades ago — in case the virus is used in a terror attack. Smallpox, which is highly contagious, was eradicated worldwide by 1980 after a huge vaccination campaign. But people born since then haven’t been vaccinated, and…
FDA To More Aggressively Tackle Disruptive Drug Shortages
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration wants to more aggressively fight medication shortages that recently have led to rationing of some drugs and disrupted hospital operations. The FDA said Thursday that it’s forming a task force to find ways to improve the supply of crucial drugs. It’s a new approach for the drug regulator, which…
U.S. Hospitals Grapple With Prolonged Injected Opioid Shortage
There is another opioid crisis happening in the U.S., and it has nothing to do with the overdose epidemic: Hospitals are frequently running out of widely used injected painkillers. Manufacturing shortages are forcing many doctors and pharmacists to sometimes ration injected opioids, reserving them for the patients suffering most. Other patients get slower-acting or less…
New Data: Americans Filling Far Fewer Opioid Prescriptions
The number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers filled in the U.S. fell dramatically last year, showing their biggest drop in 25 years and continuing a decline amid increasing legal restrictions and public awareness of the dangers of addiction, new data show. Health data firm IQVIA’s Institute for Human Data Science released a report Thursday showing an 8.9…
IV Bag Shortage Has Hospitals Scrambling To Treat Flu
An ongoing shortage of fluids used to deliver medicine and treat dehydrated patients has hospital workers scrambling in the midst of a nasty flu season and supplies from factories in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico have been slow to rebound. Supplies of saline and nutrient solutions were already tight before hurricanes pounded Puerto Rico and cut power…