Recent Postings

Survey research shows that less than half of Americans are aware that alcohol consumption can increase cancer risk. Learn about a January 2025 advisory from outgoing U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy about the increased cancer risk associated with alcohol consumption and a February 2025 World Health Organization report indicating that alcohol-attributable cancers cause almost one-third of all alcohol-attributable deaths across the European Union countries.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a laboratory-grown blood vessel (SYMVESS) that surgeons can use to restore blood flow to avoid an amputation in people who have suffered severe arterial injury to an arm or leg, such as from a gunshot wound. The “From the Editor” column discusses other blood vessels surgeons can use in an emergency, the bioengineered vessel’s serious safety problems, and why the FDA should not have approved it.

The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma drug fluticasone furoate, umeclidinium and vilanterol (TRELEGY ELLIPTA) is a once-daily, fixed-dose, dry-powder inhaler that contains drugs from three classes of medications that are used to treat these conditions. Learn why we have classified Trelegy Ellipta as Limited Use in patients with severe COPD and inadequately controlled exacerbations on dual-ingredient inhaler therapy and why we recommend that the fixed-dose combination drug not be used for maintenance treatment of asthma until its benefit and long-term safety have been established.

Generalized anxiety disorder is a psychiatric disorder that involves intense and persistent feelings of anxiety that extend well beyond normal worries. A 2025 systematic review from the Cochrane Library found that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressants are safe and effective treatments for the disorder.

Abnormally high blood glucose (hyperglycemia) is a characteristic of diabetes mellitus. Drug-induced hyperglycemia can occur in individuals with previously normal blood glucose levels and can exacerbate hyperglycemia in people with diabetes. Learn about the drugs that can raise blood glucose levels.

Learn about drugs that can impair your ability to drive safely, such as narcotic pain medications, benzodiazepines and Z-drugs, and certain antihistamines. Other examples of drugs that can interfere with safe driving are antipsychotic, antiseizure and muscle relaxant medications.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has limited oversight of television advertisements from telehealth companies and online drug promotions from celebrities and other social media influencers. Bipartisan legislation, the Protecting Patients from Deceptive Drug Ads Act, introduced in the Senate in February 2025, would empower the FDA to protect consumers from false and misleading drug promotions by telehealth companies and social medica influencers.

Although approved by the FDA to reverse life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding from the use of two oral blood thinners, andexanet (ANDEXXA) can also cause serious and life-threatening thromboembolic events. Learn why Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has classified andexanet as a Do Not Use drug and opposed the drug’s conversion from accelerated to full approval.

Patients who take the antipsychotic drug clozapine are at increased risk of neutropenia (low count of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell). Although the FDA is ending the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program for clozapine, patients taking the drug should still have their absolute neutrophil counts monitored at the frequency stated in the drug’s prescribing information.

Nicotinamide, a dietary supplement and a form of vitamin B3, is being tested as an additional way to protect the optic nerve in patients with glaucoma. However, patients who take nicotinamide may be at risk of drug-induced liver damage. The supplement should not be used if you have liver disease or have had liver disease in the past; otherwise, the supplement should only be used in a clinical trial where the liver function of participants is closely monitored.

Gepants, more formally known as small-molecule calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonists, are a new class of migraine drug that work by blocking the transmission of pain signals caused by the headaches. Because adequate long-term data are not available on safety and no study has directly established that gepants are safer and more effective than other types of migraine drugs, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has classified them as Do Not Use For Seven Years.

The editor’s column discusses the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s long-overdue ban on Red Dye No. 3, which has been known since the 1980s to cause cancer in male laboratory rats exposed to high levels of the dye.

Learn about a new observational study from British Columbia, Canada showing that methadone and buprenorphine-naloxone are similarly effective to treat opioid use disorder but that patients treated with methadone are at lower risk of discontinuing treatment.

The diuretic (water pill) spironolactone reduces the risk of death and cardiovascular complications in patients with severe heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (ineffective heart muscle contraction). A new study finds, however, that routine use of spironolactone is not beneficial after an acute heart attack to reduce deaths or major cardiovascular complications.The diuretic (water pill) spironolactone reduces the risk of death and cardiovascular complications in patients with severe heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (ineffective heart muscle contraction). A new study finds, however, that routine use of spironolactone is not beneficial after an acute heart attack to reduce deaths or major cardiovascular complications.

Learn about the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine, its effectiveness and adverse events, and the importance of receiving at least one 2024-2025 mRNA vaccine. Persons who are moderately to severely immunocompromised and those over 65 years of age are especially encouraged to be fully vaccinated and receive regular booster vaccinations.