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May 6, 2013 Men still need a prescription for the diamond-shaped blue pills. But instead of going to the pharmacy in person, or taking their chances buying from an online pharmacy of unknown repute, men will be able to buy Viagra from the maker of the drug itself and have it shipped to their homes.

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April 18, 2013 A push to make narcotic painkillers harder to abuse means that generic versions of OxyContin won't be allowed. But drugs that are more resistant to abuse are expensive and can still be addictive.

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April 11, 2013 In many parts of the South, more than one-third of seniors are taking drugs that they should avoid, an analysis of Medicare data finds. Ten percent are taking two or more potentially problematic medicines.

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April 10, 2013 Researchers put some old elixirs and pills in the Henry Ford Museum's large collection of patent medicines to a modern test. They found a mix of potentially harmful metals like lead and mercury along with benign ingredients, including calcium and iron.

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April 3, 2013 A study of statin use in the real world found that 17 percent of patients taking the pills reported side effects, including muscle pain, nausea, and problems with their liver or nervous system. Many of those people quit taking the pills, at least temporarily.

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March 27, 2013 Drops under the tongue to treat allergies sounds a lot nicer than allergy shots. A new review in JAMA says they're moderately effective, and relatively safe. But they're also not FDA-approved. Still, doctors, including an author of the study, are prescribing them off-label.

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March 15, 2013 Go looking for animal products, and you will find them everywhere, including pharmaceutical drugs. That's the word from a new guide to animal-derived products in everyday products written by two German "professional vegans."

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February 21, 2013 Emergency contraceptives like Plan B and ella are effective at preventing pregnancy after unprotected sex. Claims that the pills are tantamount to abortion, however, aren't supported by science, say researchers. The only way the drugs work is by stopping a woman's body from ovulating.

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February 20, 2013 Pharmaceuticals were involved in more than half of the 38,329 overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2010. Opioid painkillers, such as hydrocodone, were the most common prescription drugs involved. But drugs for mental health conditions were also implicated often.

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February 14, 2013 Small amounts of the drugs that people take end up in wastewater and then in streams and rivers. It's usually not enough to harm the health of humans who swim in or drink the water. But there is growing evidence that pharmaceuticals in wastewater may affect wildlife.

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February 13, 2013 Contaminated and counterfeit drugs can be more profitable than illegal ones, and they're spreading. This problem is killing people around the world, including in the U.S., and hampering efforts to control diseases like tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS.

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February 6, 2013 Cortisone shots offer quick relief for tendon problems. But they also carry a risk of side effects. A look at alternatives for treatment of tennis elbow finds that being patient may be the best approach to take.

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February 1, 2013 Triaminic and Theraflu syrups and "warming liquids," the products implicated in the latest recall announcement, contain acetaminophen and diphenhydramine. But kids were able to open the childproof caps on the products, presenting a risk of poisoning.

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February 1, 2013 Most medical schools have cut down on students' interactions with the pharmaceutical industry by instituting gift restriction policies. These policies can reduce the prescribing of newly marketed drugs in favor of cheaper options.

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January 23, 2013 A study of a new drug therapy for pancreatic cancer finds it works better than the standard approach. While the improvement is modest for the typical patient, some people who received the treatment lived a year or two longer than those receiving conventional therapy.

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