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Millions in the U.K. Are Being Urged to Get Vaccinations During a Surge in Measles Cases
U.K. health officials on Monday urged millions of parents to book their children for missed measles, mumps and rubella shots during a sharp increase in the number of measles cases and the lowest vaccination rates in a decade.
The National Health Service is launching a publicity campaign after figures showed there were about 250 confirmed measles cases in parts of England last year. Most cases were in children under 10 years old.
The combined measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine is offered in the U.K. in two doses to all children, first at 12 months and then again at 3 years. Vaccination rates have dropped to about 85% nationally, and far lower in parts of London, according to U.K. Health Security Agency chief executive Jenny Harries.
More recently, declines in vaccination uptake were exacerbated partly by the pandemic and anti-vaccine sentiment, said Helen Bedford, a professor of children’s health at University College London.
Federal Lawmakers Take First Steps Toward Oversight of $50 Billion in Opioid Settlements
Some members of Congress are demanding federal oversight of billions of dollars in opioid settlements, which state and local governments began spending over the past two years — with some using it to plug budget holes rather than fight the addiction crisis.
This month, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) introduced legislation that would write into law approved uses for the funds so they reach people most affected by the crisis.
With more than 100,000 Americans dying annually of overdoses in recent years, “any effort we can make to try to turn the needle toward treatment, prevention, education, and enforcement is critical,” Kaptur said in an interview. “This bill aims to ensure that these funds are used for those purposes and not as a piggy bank for other projects.”
The opioid cash comes from more than a dozen drugmakers, pharmaceutical distributors, and retail pharmacies that have agreed to pay more than $50 billion over 18 years in legal settlements intended to resolve their roles in the opioid addiction crisis. The companies — including household names like CVS and Johnson & Johnson, as well as lesser-known companies like AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health — were accused of downplaying the risks of prescription opioids and fueling the first wave of the crisis.
Drugmakers Hiking Prices for More Than 700 Medications, Including Ozempic and Mounjaro
Pharmaceutical companies are hiking prices for more than 700 medications, including popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro, industry research shows.
The average price increase at year start was about 4.5%, the analysis from 46 Brooklyn found. That represents a slightly slower pace compared with the five prior years when drug prices rose about 5% each year on average, the data shows.
Among the noteworthy increases are Ozempic and Mounjaro, two drugs that belong to a class of medications called GLP-1 agonists. While these drugs are designed to help diabetics regulate their blood sugar, they’ve also been found to be effective weight-loss drugs, prompting non-diabetics to seek out the drugs in order to slim down. As a result, these drugs have been in greater demand, leading to shortages.
The price of Ozempic, which is manufactured by Novo Nordisk, rose 3.5% to $984.29 for a month’s supply, while Eli Lilly‘s Mounjaro rose 4.5% to about $1,000 for a month’s worth of the medication, the 46 Brooklyn data shows.
Ozempic and Wegovy Overdose Calls Have Spiked, Experts Say — Here’s What to Know About Dangerous Doses
As the popularity of semaglutide weight-loss medications continues to grow, so does the rate of potentially dangerous overdoses, experts are warning.
Reported overdoses of semaglutide products such as Ozempic and Wegovy more than doubled between 2022 and 2023, according to America’s Poison Centers in Virginia.
“U.S. Poison Centers have documented 3,316 exposures to products containing semaglutide through Dec. 31, 2023, more than two times the number of cases reported in 2022,” Dr. Kait Brown, clinical managing director of America’s Poison Centers, told Fox News Digital via email.
Dr. Maryann Amirshahi, co-medical director of the National Capital Poison Center in Washington, DC, confirmed that there has been a large overall increase in semaglutide overdoses reported to poison centers nationally.
Cancer Vaccine With Minimal Side Effects Nearing Phase 3 Clinical Trials
Dr. Thomas Wagner, founder of the biotech company Orbis Health Solutions and cancer researcher, has made it his life’s mission to find a way to treat cancer without the dreaded side effects that, for some, can become worse than the cancer itself or may even lead to an earlier death.
After seeing cancer patients suffer from debilitating side effects of their treatment, Wagner began his mission to develop a cancer treatment that harnessed the power of a person’s immune system instead of eliminating it. This treatment was developed as a vaccine that has now been studied for decades, and each shot is completely personalized to each patient.
Wagner’s TLPO cancer vaccine has been tested in hundreds of patients with advanced forms of melanoma in Phase 2 clinical trials.
Dr. Vernon Sondak, a cutaneous oncologist at Moffit Cancer Center who was not involved in the clinical trial but has worked with tumor lysate vaccines throughout his career, told ABC News that these results are promising, but points out that the Phase 2 clinical trials aren’t conclusive. A larger Phase 3 clinical trial will have to ultimately validate if this cancer vaccine will truly be a game-changer in the field.
Exclusive: U.S. FDA Finds New Manufacturing Lapses at Eli Lilly Plant
U.S. inspectors recently uncovered new manufacturing problems at an Eli Lilly (LLY.N) plant that has been under scrutiny by federal investigators, according to government records obtained by Reuters.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection in July at Lilly’s Branchburg, New Jersey, plant detected eight separate deficiencies. They included problems in tracking manufacturing processes and quality controls, as well as lapses in the calibration of equipment and failure to properly maintain facilities and equipment, the inspection report shows.
The inspection report, which Reuters obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, was partially redacted to remove the names of any products affected. Lilly said in a statement to Reuters that the company had asked the FDA to allow for “additional flexibility” to manufacture migraine treatment Emgality on a different production line if needed in the future.
Lilly has become the world’s most valuable healthcare company by market capitalization. Its shares rose 59% last year on surging demand for Mounjaro, a diabetes drug that is also a powerful obesity treatment. The drug was approved for weight loss under the brand name Zepbound in the U.S. late last year. Lilly said in a statement that tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound, was not manufactured at the Branchburg plant.
Yet the Indianapolis-based drugmaker has been cited multiple times for manufacturing problems at its U.S. plants over the last few years, Reuters has reported. Three regulatory experts who reviewed the new inspection report described the most recent lapses as serious.
Sanders Plans to Subpoena Merck, J&J CEOs on Drug Pricing
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), announced Thursday he will be holding a vote to issue subpoenas to the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck for testimonies on drug pricing after they refused requests to appear before the Senate panel.
The subpoenas for Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato and Merck CEO Robert Davis would have them “provide testimony about why their companies charge substantially higher prices for medicine in the U.S. compared to other countries,” according to the announcement.
FDA Scolds Novartis Over a Misleading TV Ad for a Breast Cancer Treatment
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration scolded Novartis for making false and misleading statements about a best-selling breast cancer treatment in a television ad in 2022.
In a Nov. 18 letter, the agency admonished the company for touting the benefits of its Kisqali medicine by referencing data that did not support the messages in the ad. In particular, the FDA cited an analysis of patient-reported outcomes data that had limitations and failed to demonstrate Kisqali “helps preserve quality of life” or supports patients “living well.” The FDA also objected to formatting.
“This violation is particularly concerning because the overstated representations about Kisqali’s efficacy could lead patients with advanced or metastatic breast cancer… to believe that Kisqali has been shown to be more effective in treating their condition and symptoms — with respect to overall survival and quality of life — than was actually demonstrated,” the FDA wrote to Novartis about its television ad.
Cameroon Starts World’s First Malaria Vaccine Program for Children
Cameroon will be the first country to routinely give children a new malaria vaccine as the shots are rolled out in Africa. The Central African nation hopes to vaccinate about 250,000 children this year and next year. Gavi said it is working with 20 other African countries to help them get the vaccine and that those countries will hopefully immunize more than 6 million children through 2025.
Cameroon will use the first of two recently approved malaria vaccines, known as Mosquirix. The World Health Organization endorsed the vaccine two years ago, acknowledging that even though it is imperfect, its use would still dramatically reduce severe infections and hospitalizations.
The GlaxoSmithKline-produced shot is only about 30% effective, requires four doses and protection begins to fade after several months. The vaccine was tested in Africa and used in pilot programs in three countries.
Neither of the malaria vaccines stops transmission, so other tools like bed nets and insecticidal spraying will still be critical. The malaria parasite mostly spreads to people via infected mosquitoes and can cause symptoms including fever, headaches and chills.
FDA Slaps Boxed Warning on Amgen’s Osteoporosis Drug Prolia
The use of Amgen’s osteoporosis drug Prolia by those with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) can increase the risk of calcium loss in the blood, according to the FDA.
The U.S. regulator has added a new boxed warning for the blockbuster treatment, which has been on the market for 14 years and loses patent protection next year.
Use of Prolia, which is injected every six months, can increase the risk of “severe” hypocalcemia, which is an abnormally low level of calcium in the blood. It’s a dangerous but treatable condition that can cause neurologic or psychological issues that can be fatal.
