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GLP-1s Tied to Detached Fingernails in New Study
Users of GLP-1 receptor agonists had as much as fourfold higher likelihood for nail disorders, particularly onycholysis (separation of the fingernails or toenails), compared with patients not taking the drugs, a large prospective study showed.
The data showed that 39.3% of 575 GLP-1 agonist users had onycholysis as compared with 8.7% of obese/diabetic patients not taking the drugs, which translated into a 4.5-fold higher likelihood.
For dyschromia (nail discoloration), the rates were 45.6% versus 17.0%, representing a 2.7-fold greater likelihood among GLP-1 receptor agonist users. Nail fragility and presence of ridges or grooves also were more common in GLP-1 agonist users.
Skin Creams May Have Potent Ingredients Not Found on the Label
Some over-the-counter (OTC) skin creams have undeclared pharmacologically active ingredients (UPAIs) that could be harmful to consumers, an observational study found.
Out of 18 preselected products, UPAIs were identified in six (33.3%); when researchers purchased and analyzed two additional units of these six products, UPAIs were found in all three analyzed units, according to Zaur Abilov, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues.
The superpotent prescription-only corticosteroid clobetasol propionate was detected in six products at concentrations ranging from about 0.01% to 0.46%, with the highest concentrations exceeding those in FDA-approved topical formulations (0.05%) by 9.2-fold, they reported in a research letter published in JAMA Network Open.
Activists, Doctors Clash Over Florida’s Proposal to Repeal Four School Vaccine Requirements
The health department wants to remove the immunization requirements for hepatitis B, varicella (chickenpox), Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate to attend Florida schools.
The Florida Department of Health heard hours of public comment from parents’ rights advocates and health care professionals on Thursday about the agency’s move to repeal four vaccines required to enroll in state schools. The hearing, held Thursday morning in Lake Mary, saw activists praise the department for the proposal, while doctors and other health care professionals heavily criticized the move, which has been in the works for more than a year.
The department wants to remove the immunization requirements for hepatitis B, varicella (chickenpox), Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate to attend Florida schools. The requirements are an agency rule, not in state law, and can be repealed by the agency itself.
Lawmakers Want Answers From CDC Director on Childhood Vaccine Recommendations, Measles Response
A letter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Erica Schwartz, MD, MPH, JD, from Democratic lawmakers indicates a growing frustration with her leadership amid attempts by President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to change childhood vaccine recommendations.
In a letter sent earlier this week, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) and 29 Democratic colleagues asked Schwartz whether she or any CDC career scientists were consulted about or played a role in developing President Trump’s August 10th executive order (EO), which cut the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 18 to 11 and called for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine to be broken up into three separate shots.
Following the order, the Department of Health and Human Services posted a request for information (RFI) aimed at laying the groundwork for the changes.
ADHD Medications Show No Evidence of Long-Term Academic Gains in Patients on Margin of Treatment
Medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had no statistically significant evidence of a causal effect on grade point average or individual school subject grades among Norwegian children and adolescents on the margin of treatment, who were followed up for a maximum of 10 years, a registry-based analysis found.
In a registry-based population study, researchers analysed individual-level data of 6255 Norwegian children aged 5-15 years diagnosed with ADHD between 2009 and 2011 who were followed up through the completion of 10th grade (at 15-16 years of age).
Treatment exposure was defined as the cumulative number of defined daily doses of ADHD medication filled from diagnosis through the end of 10th grade; 74%-88% of patients filled prescriptions, depending on the diagnostic age group and treatment period.
Cancer Vaccines Are the N.I.H’s Next ‘Big Bet’
A new type of cancer treatment — vaccines — is so promising that it demands a national effort to expedite discoveries, said the director of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Anthony Letai. “We can do things that would not otherwise be done,” he said of new resources being made available at the National Institutes of Health. “We can place big bets on new ideas.”
The big bet is a planned public-private partnership involving the N.I.H, the nonprofit Foundation for the N.I.H., researchers, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, advocacy groups, philanthropies and patients, all working together to develop and test the vaccines.
The vaccines are treatments that are unique to each patient by prompting the immune system to attack a patient’s specific cancer. The injections teach the immune systems’ T cells to home in on aberrant proteins found on a patient’s tumor and nowhere else.
Company Recalls 113,000 Bottles of Acetaminophen Sold Through Amazon
More than 100,000 bottles of generic acetaminophen sold through Amazon were recalled by an India-based manufacturer due to consumer complaints about discoloration, according to notices published on the Food and Drug Administration’s website this past week.
The recall impacts Amazon acetaminophen caplets in 500-milligram strength, in 200-count, 500-count, and 1,000-count bottles. No other strengths of the over-the-counter pain reliever were included in the recall.
The medication was recalled by India-based Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc., according to the FDA notices. The medication was manufactured in India.
Four Deaths Prompt FDA Safety Concerns About Novel Schizophrenia Drug
The FDA flagged a potential safety signal after four deaths were reported among patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia who received investigational evenamide in clinical trials, Newron Pharmaceuticals said Thursday.
The notice follows an announcement in April that the agency halted patient enrollment in the phase III ENIGMA-TRS 2 trial after the sudden death of a participant in an evenamide clinical trial. That hold remains in place at U.S. study centers but enrollment continues in other countries, and additional clinical sites are being added.
“Our team is working with high commitment to complete a thorough review of the FDA’s feedback and the available data, and to submit our response upon its completion,” Newron Chief Medical Officer Ravi Anand, MD, said in a news release. “Our assessment is supported by the substantial body of preclinical and clinical safety data generated with evenamide.”
