Getty Images It is among the most delicate and controversial challenges in modern medicine – how to determine whether the benefits of puberty blockers (or drugs that delay puberty) outweigh the potential harms. This question came to the fore in June 2023 when NHS England proposed that in the future, these drugs would only be … Read more
HANDOUT Alix Harvey started taking the weight-loss drug in May this year Weight-loss drug Mounjaro is set to be rolled out on the NHS in England from March. It is one of many weight-loss drugs that have become increasingly popular in recent years, and are sold privately by clinics and pharmacies. BBC News spoke to … Read more
A new weight-loss jab will be rolled out on the NHS in England – but it could take 12 years for everyone to receive it, the NHS drugs advisory body says. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) final draft guidance on Mounjaro has recommended it starts being given from March, alongside advice … Read more
Getty Images People with laryngeal dystonia (LD), a condition that makes the voice sound strained and hoarse, might benefit from a drug already used to treat a sleep disorder, researchers say. Some volunteers who tried the narcolepsy treatment, sodium oxybate, found it eased their speech in a similar way to drinking alcohol, but without intoxication. … Read more
BBC Susan McGowan died two weeks after taking tirzepatide – brand name Mounjaro The death of a nurse from North Lanarkshire has been linked to the use of a weight-loss drug recently approved for use on the NHS. Susan McGowan, 58, took two low-dose injections of tirzepatide, known under the brand name Mounjaro, over the … Read more
Image for representation only | Photo Credit: AP India’s drugs regulator on Friday (October 25, 2024) directed manufacturers of 49 medicines to recall their products after samples were found to be “not of standard quality”. Also, action has been initiated to book the makers of four spurious drugs. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Rajeev … Read more
Drug-poisoning deaths in England and Wales have hit the highest level in 30 years, fuelled by a 30% rise in fatalities involving cocaine. The highest rate of drug deaths is still among men in “Generation X”, particularly those aged 40-49, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Cocaine deaths were nearly 10 times higher in … Read more
A new drug that slows the pace of Alzheimer’s disease is too expensive for too little benefit to be used on the NHS, the drugs spending watchdog says. Donanemab was hailed as a turning point in the disease last year. But the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said the drug provided only … Read more
Jeannie Ambrose Jeannie Ambrose, one of about 1,000 affected patients, says Enhertu should be made available on the NHS More than a thousand patients with advanced breast cancer are being denied a drug that can keep them alive for longer. It is already available in 19 countries in Europe – including in Scotland – but … Read more
BBC Annabel Ashmore was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer at the age of four The family of a young girl with cancer say they face a race against time to get her potentially life-saving care abroad. Annabel Ashmore, from Gateshead, needs to start a two-year drug treatment by November to reduce the risk of her … Read more