Patients are already dying as wonder drugs lose their effectiveness. International action is urgently needed As apocalyptic horror stories go, it’s up there with the scariest. Yet it’s not fiction writers but top scientists who are warning of how the world could look once superbugs develop resistance to the remaining drugs against them in our hospital pharmacies. Patients will die who can currently be cured; routine surgery will become dangerous or impossible. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – it happens not only with bacteria but also viruses, fungi and parasites – is one of the top ..read more

Telling patients I can’t get their life-saving medication is awful. The government must act to prevent a real tragedy Mike Hewitson owns a pharmacy in west Dorset For the past 16 years, I have run a small community pharmacy in rural west Dorset. My business is older than me – the little yellow-brick building I own is about to turn 235. Right now, I am really concerned about it getting through the next 12 months. In my years as a pharmacist, I have never seen things as bad as they are at the moment. We are going through a period of rampant drug shortages in England, caused by global shortages ..read more

State lawmakers add amendment to anti-abortion bill to reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol as Schedule IV drugs Louisiana may soon become the first state in the country to pass a bill adding two common abortion pills to the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances, leading individuals who are caught with the drugs and lack authorization to potentially face years in prison. Like the rest of the US deep south, Louisiana already bans almost all abortions. But recently, when a house committee in the Republican-controlled legislature debated a bill to ban people from performing abortions ..read more

Bacteria resistant to antibiotics led to 1.27 million deaths in 2019. The answer is a ‘one health’ approach across all species, experts say It kills millions every year, with a potential impact in the near future that could dwarf that of the Covid-19 pandemic but AMR, or antimicrobial resistance, remains a little-known problem outside specialist circles. Experts say it is vital that we get a grip on it, with action needed across sectors from health to agriculture ..read more

Is hormone replacement therapy right for you and, if it is, what type should you take? All your key questions answered When it comes to menopause, awareness of symptoms and ways to mitigate their impact are changing. Chief among treatments that have undergone an image change is hormone replacement therapy (HRT). While many women have been wary of such medication because of concerns over an increase in the risk of breast cancer, it has recently become a focal point for high-profile campaigners such as Davina McCall, who have stressed its benefits for managing symptoms from low mood to hot flush ..read more

We would like to hear from pharmacists who have been affected by drug shortages According to a report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank, drug shortages have become a “new normal” in the UK aggravated by Brexit and the disruption to the previously smooth supply of drugs. The number of warnings drug companies have issued about impending supply problems for certain products has more than doubled from 648 in 2020 to 1,634 last year ..read more

Be mindful of drinks that taste sharper or stronger than usual, or if you feel intoxicated more quickly than you ordinarily would Feeling safe to socialise should be everyone’s right. Reports of Queensland MP Brittany Lauga alleging she was drugged and sexually assaulted during a recent night out have sparked a sense of heightened risk for women visiting bars and clubs. Feeling drunk despite not having drunk a lot. Feeling dizzy, light-headed, sleepy or like you might pass out. Feeling nauseous. Feeling confused or disoriented. Passing out. Waking up with feelings of discomfort and memory blan ..read more

UK medicines regulator says information on boxes of montelukast will alert users to risk of mood and behaviour changes More than 500 adverse neuropsychiatric reactions have been reported in children under the age of nine involving an asthma drug which is to get new warnings over its risks. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced last week that more prominent warnings would be added to the information provided on boxes of the asthma drug montelukast, sold under the brand name Singulair ..read more

Readers respond to a letter which said that MDMA is not helpful in mental health care Rachel McNulty (Letters, 19 April) is right to emphasise the need for proper funding of integrated mental health care and social support, but wrong to dismiss MDMA based on a single anecdotal case. I can provide a number of counter-anecdotes showing the value of MDMA to mental health, including a friend of mine who has said that it saved him from taking his life in his youth. However, science-based healthcare is not about anecdotes, but systematically gathered evidence and controlled trials. Such trials are a ..read more

Excitement among patients and researchers as custom-built jabs enter phase 3 trial Doctors have begun trialling in hundreds of patients the world’s first personalised mRNA cancer vaccine for melanoma, as experts hailed its “gamechanging” potential to permanently cure cancer. Melanoma affects about 132,000 people a year globally and is the biggest skin cancer killer. Currently, surgery is the main treatment although radiotherapy, medicines and chemotherapy are also sometimes used ..read more