News

Omicron is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., racing ahead of all others, and accounting for 73 per cent of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week. In

The Food and Drug Administration has announced that women no longer will have to pick up the abortion pill mifepristone (Mifeprex) in person at certain certified sites and can get a prescription via an online consultation and delivery through the mail. In April 2021, the FDA lifted the in-person dispensing requirement for mifepristone for the duration of the

I think we thought we saw this coming. And I think we tried to warn everybody. Approaching 2 years into the pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of lives lost and millions sickened, it feels like we’re no closer to an effective public health system prepared to handle what comes next, instead of reacting to things

Breakthrough infections could lead to an eventual end game of the COVID-19 pandemic: This is what scientists are saying after conducting tests on live SARS-CoV-2 virus exposed to blood samples collected from vaccinated individuals.  Study On COVID-19 Protection In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from the Oregon Health

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a prostate cancer imaging kit (Illuccix) for the preparation of gallium-68 (68Ga) gozetotide injection, a radioactive diagnostic agent indicated for positron emission tomography (PET) of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) positive lesions in patients with prostate cancer. Illuccix — the first commercially available FDA-approved product of its

As she lined up for her first COVID-19 vaccine shot at a Laval, Que., vaccination centre, six-year-old Lea Strazza was a little apprehensive. “I’m feeling nervous,” she said, standing with her mother, Sandy Strazza. “I’m scared because it hurts a little bit.” With children ages five to 11 now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines across Canada, those nerves

Editor’s note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center. Dec. 17, 2021 — Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 2 to 5 years old fizzled in clinical trials, the company said on Friday, signaling a further delay in getting a vaccine to preschoolers just as Omicron bears down on the U.S. In

“Your brain doesn’t care what hits it.” — Daniel Daneshvar, MD, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, on how repeated head trauma endured by pro football players may be one of several potential risk factors for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. “That’s where I get a bit more nervous, because a very transmissible variant will be sweeping across

The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended marketing authorization for anifrolumab (Saphnelo) as an add-on treatment for adults with moderate to severe, active autoantibody-positive systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), despite standard therapy, according to an announcement on Dec. 16. Anifrolumab, a monoclonal antibody that binds to subunit 1 of the

While he admits the public’s willingness to follow public health measures may be waning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is asking Canadians to stay focused on preventing the Omicron variant from ruining the coming winter and spring. “Omicron doesn’t care if we’re tired of restrictions,” Trudeau said in a year-end interview airing on Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday. ”It’s going to keep doing what

Margin marking before endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) of large colorectal polyps cut the risk of recurrence by 80% when compared with traditional EMR, new data suggest. A team of researchers, led by Dennis Yang, MD, with the Center for Interventional Endoscopy at AdventHealth in Orlando, Florida, compared polyp recurrence after patients received EMR with margin

The 24-hour news cycle is just as important to medicine as it is to politics, finance, or sports. At MedPage Today, new information is posted daily, but keeping up can be a challenge. As an aid for our readers, here is a 10-question quiz based on the news of the week. Topics include the CDC’s

Ice cream! We can never get enough of it, be it in a cup, cone or straight from the tub. With Christmas peeking around the corner, it’s the best time of the year for some sweet frozen treats with your friends and family. After all, what’s better than enjoying a tub of ice cream with the

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved efgartigimod (Vyvgart, argenx), a first-in-class, targeted therapy for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) who test positive for the antiacetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody. “There are significant unmet medical needs for people living with myasthenia gravis, as with many other rare diseases,” Billy Dunn, MD, director, Office

A two-month old baby has died of COVID-19 at Montreal’s Sainte-Justine Hospital. “The child, healthy at birth, had been recently hospitalized in intensive care due to COVID and died on Dec. 16,” the hospital said in a news release Friday. The release says the hospital will not be providing further information due to it being highly confidential.

Two cancer drugs and one drug to treat sickle cell disease will likely reach the European market soon, following approval recommendations from a European Medicines Agency (EMA) panel. The drugs are enfortumab vedotin (Padcev, Astellas/Seagen) for urothelial cancer, tepotinib (Tepmetko, Merck) for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and voxelotor (Oxbryta, Global Blood Therapeutics) for sickle

Clinicians should not automatically give the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine even if they suspect patients will not return for a second dose of mRNA vaccine, CDC staff said on a call with clinicians on Friday. CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted for a preferential recommendation for mRNA vaccines on Thursday due to

As the world celebrates International Tea Day 2021 this December 15, we’re reminded of how comforting a cup of tea is especially whenever you need to unwind and relax. But more than the delicate flavors that tea offers, did you know that it can also provide us with various health benefits? To help promote such benefits, the

Cannabis use should be considered in anyone with type 1 diabetes who presents with symptoms of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) but has high pH and bicarbonate levels, new research suggests. Now recognized as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), it has been recently described in chronic or heavy cannabis users. A slowing of gastric motility leads to cyclic

New research from a team in Hong Kong offers a clue to why the Omicron coronavirus variant is spreading so astonishingly fast around the world: it may be multiplying 70 times quicker than earlier strains within our lower airways. The laboratory-based study, led by researchers from the LKS Faculty of Medicine at the University of

The U.S. health regulator has issued a warning letter to Medtronic highlighting certain concerns related to medical device quality management at its diabetes business, the company said on Wednesday. Medtronic’s shares were down 6% at $104.95 in early trading, hitting their lowest in over a year. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) letter focused on

The holiday season is in full swing. You may have already picked up the perfect gifts for the healthcare workers in your life. But if you have young children on your list, that likely means you’re in the market for some toys. Luckily, there are plenty of fun and inventive options out there, especially if