Written by Dr. Bruce Kehr Psychiatrists are using genetic testing to determine which prescription medications work best for treating each patient’s particular addiction. For example, doctors can test patients who suffer from alcohol addiction for variants in a gene called the μ-Opioid Receptor (OPRM1), which has been linked to a [...]
The FDA plans to convene an expert panel to examine the population-level effects of treating opioid addiction with medication in hopes of gaining wider acceptance of and insurance coverage for those medications. During a late October hearing, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, told the House Committee on Energy and Commerce [...]
The Food and Drug Administration has approved an extended-release, subcutaneous injection formulation of buprenorphine for use in treating moderate to severe opioid use disorder (OUD), the manufacturer of the drug announced recently. The new product, called Sublocade, is a monthly injection intended for use in patients who have already begun [...]
By Michael J. Manos, Kimberly Giuliano, and Eric Geyer The Affordable Care Act of 2010 sought to transform medical care in the United States from procedures to performance, from acute episodes of illness to integrated care across the lifespan, and from inefficient care to efficient and affordable care with measurable outcomes. At [...]
An investigational Alzheimer’s drug intended to potentiate acetylcholine release didn’t pass muster in a global phase 3 study, despite a successful phase 2 trial. Intepirdine on a background of stable-dose donepezil failed to confer any cognitive or functional benefit in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Intepirdine blocks the 5-hydroxytryptamine [...]
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc will expand its pattern recognition software to other countries after successful tests in the U.S. to detect users with suicidal intent, the world's largest social media network said on Monday. Facebook began testing the software in the United States in March, when the company [...]
Allergan plc has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Vraylar (cariprazine) for the maintenance treatment of adults with schizophrenia. Vraylar is also approved in the US in adults for the acute treatment of schizophrenia and acute treatment of [...]
In 2006, psychiatrist Carlos A. Zarate Jr, MD, and colleagues at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) published a seminal finding in Archives of General Psychiatry (now JAMA Psychiatry): A single intravenous dose of ketamine—an anesthetic agent with hallucinogenic properties—produced robust antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) [...]
The antipsychotic agent, Abilify (aripiprazole, Otsuka), is the first Food and Drug Administration approved digital pill — a medication embedded with a sensor that can tell doctors whether, and when, patients take their medicine. The wearable sensor patch is made by Proteus Digital Health. The approval marks a significant advance in [...]
A long-awaited study has found that two of the main medications for treating opioid addiction are similarly effective. The study, funded by the federal government, compared Vivitrol, which comes in a monthly shot and blocks the effects of opioids, and Suboxone, which is taken daily in strips that dissolve on the [...]