Recent Postings

“Long COVID,” the long-lasting illness that can occur after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is perplexing, variable in presentation and difficult to treat. Although there are no specific drug treatments for long COVID, learn about the four medications that a project at the National Institutes of Health has identified as leading candidates for further study.

The “From the Editor” column discusses a troubling hepatitis B vaccine study that is funded in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with an unsolicited $1.6 million grant to the University of South Denmark and is planned for the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau. Although it is uncertain whether the study will be conducted, the research funds would be better used to help Guinea-Bissau make a birth dose of the vaccine available to all newborns.

A new analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative trials assessed the effects of patient age and timing of treatment on the cardiovascular risks of menopausal hormone therapy. The 2025 study found that hormone therapy may be safer and more effective for postmenopausal women in their fifties and those who start treatment within a decade of menopause onset, and less safe and less effective for older women and those who start treatment more than 10 years after menopause begins.

Artificial-intelligence (AI)-enabled wellness and companion chatbots are computerized devices that simulate human conversations with the people that use them. Although their benefits and risks remain uncertain, the chatbots are increasingly used; they may be especially risky for young people and individuals with mental health conditions. None of these devices have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for psychotherapy.

In 2025 the Food and Drug Administration approved nerandomilast (JASCAYD), an oral drug, for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and progressive pulmonary fibrosis, two serious and progressive lung diseases with limited treatment options. Although trials have shown that the drug can modestly slow the rate of lung function decline, a benefit for acute exacerbations, respiratory hospitalizations, or death has not been established. Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has classified the drug as Do Not Use for Seven Years.

In November 2025 Public Citizen petitioned the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to improve the pregnancy warning labels for common antidepressants. We urged the agency to require balanced, evidence-based pregnancy warnings in the product labels of serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors.

The “From the Editor” column discusses the FDA’s highly unusual action in September 2025 to initiate the approval of leucovorin calcium tablets (previously marketed as WELLCOVORIN and generics) for patients with cerebral folate deficiency, a rare neurological condition that affects the transport of folate into the brain and has autism-like features.

Parkinsonism is not a diagnosis, but rather a term used to describe a set of symptoms. These symptoms include stiffness (rigidity), slowness of movement (bradykinesia), and shaking body parts (often referred to as resting tremor). Although these symptoms are most associated with Parkinson’s disease, the second most common reason for these symptoms is drug-induced parkinsonism. Learn about drugs that can cause parkinsonism.

Although hormone panel tests are advertised to support a woman’s menopause transition and to personalize treatment approaches, these tests, which are often expensive, are unnecessary for assessing menopause, treating menopausal symptoms, or guiding menopausal hormone therapy.

In November 2025 the Food and Drug Administration initiated the removal of most of the boxed warning from the prescribing information of all menopausal hormone treatments containing estrogen. The boxed warning about endometrial cancer for systemic estrogen-alone products will be maintained. Although Public Citizen’s Health Research Group is open to targeted updates to the safety warnings that incorporate recent medical evidence, we consider many of the proposed labeling changes to be unsupported.

The editor’s column discusses the public health consequences of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent decision to replace the universal practice of administering the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine to all newborns with “individual-based decision-making in consultation with a health care provider” for parents deciding whether to give the birth dose to infants who are born to hepatitis B surface antigen-negative women.

Learn about two new studies that found no additional benefit for bedtime dosing of once-daily antihypertensive medications in terms of reducing the risk of major cardiovascular events or decreasing safety outcomes.

In July 2025 the Food and Drug Administration required safety labeling changes to all opioid pain medications to better explain the risks of overdose and addiction. Although the labeling changes improve upon the previous labeling, learn why they fall short of the changes the agency should have required.

A recent clinical trial found that cannabidiol (CBD) doses like those used in unregulated CBD consumer products were associated with increased liver enzyme levels and, in several cases, potential drug-induced liver injury. The study findings highlight concerns about the long-term liver safety of widely used CBD products and the need for clinicians to ask patients with elevated liver enzyme levels about CBD use.