Prescriptions for Ozempic, Wegovy and other glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists are booming among patients seeking to shed pounds. 

Fourteen states prohibit medication abortion — a federally approved two-drug regimen that accounts for more than 50% of U.S. abortions — and 15 other states restrict abortion pills, according to NBC News. 

Almost eight months after the FDA approved Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill, it will soon be available for purchase without a prescription at pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens in weeks, according to ABC News.

A year after the FDA allowed eligible pharmacies a pathway to dispense abortion pill mifepristone, CVS and Walgreens confirmed to Becker's they gained approval and will soon offer the medication. 

Health systems are magnifying their weight loss programs as estimates place the global prevalence of obesity at 1 billion adults and children. 

Fall of 2023 was the first time a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus became available for those most at risk, but now data shows the shots may have caused a few cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome, The New York Times reported March 1.

By 2030, 51% of the world's population, or 4 billion people, are expected to have obesity, according to trends tracked by the World Obesity Federation. 

Thirty-two percent of independent pharmacy owners plan to shutter their businesses by the end of 2024, according to a February survey. 

In 2022, overall prescriptions grew 1% from 2019 while mental health-related prescriptions increased 12%, USA Today reported Feb. 29. 

Almost 40% of patients prefer to self-medicate because doing so has worked for them previously, according to a survey published Feb. 27, led by market research and data analytics firm YouGov.

GLP-1s, such as Type 2 diabetes therapies Ozempic and Mounjaro and weight loss drug Wegovy, are expected to bulk up the U.S. economy as more Americans shed pounds. 

In June 2022, the Federal Trade Commission launched a probe into the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers and how they affect drug affordability and access. No PBM has fully complied with the probe, FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a recent letter obtained by Axios. 

Viking Therapeutics reported Feb. 27 strong results from a phase 2 trial of a new drug that could rival other GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy.

UnitedHealth Group's Optum Rx is monitoring two drug candidates that might be approved in the next few months, according to its winter 2024 report. 

Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. will sell Euthyrox, its 21st brand-name drug, in March. 

On Feb. 23, Colorado secured a national first by agreeing to establish a price ceiling on a medication, The Denver Post reported. 

More than two and a half years after the FDA warned about an increased risk of death linked to Pepaxto, a multiple myeloma drug, the agency withdrew the medication's approval Feb. 23. 

New York Attorney General Letitia James implored the FDA Feb. 22 to update Singulair's warning label after an uptick in pediatric mental health issues linked to the asthma and allergy drug. 

Pharmaceutical giant Moderna said it anticipates initial regulatory approvals of its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine will come in the first half of 2024, according to its Q4 earnings update published Feb. 22.

The American Hospital Association is urging healthcare facilities to disconnect from Optum systemes following a cyberattack on the insurer, The Wall Street Journal reported Feb. 22.