The National Association for Biomedical Research and other medical groups are urging federal officials to help amid a shortage of monkeys they say is disrupting research for lifesaving medications. 

Arizona passed a bill which allows pharmacists to dispense birth control with non-patient specific orders, the Observer Today reported March 30.

On May 9 and May 10, an FDA advisory panel will discuss whether to recommend the agency approve what could be the first over-the-counter birth control pill. 

Johnson & Johnson is stopping work to develop a respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for older adults — a move that will allow the company to "prioritize the most transformational assets for ongoing investment." 

The FDA approved the first over-the-counter Narcan (naloxone) product on March 29. 

As more drugs slip into shortage, rural hospitals could lose their failsafes as the healthcare industry grapples with dozens of inaccessible medications. 

Some employees at Walgreens will not see any "further" wage increases, the chain's CEO said March 28. 

Four drugs listed as products with the greatest risk of supply disruption and vulnerability after a U.S. drugmaker closed in February are on back order. The U.S. now has no supply of four others.

Antibiotics are overprescribed or inappropriately prescribed between 30 and 50 percent of the time, according to a recent study, but the implementation of antibiotic stewardship programs in hospital settings can reduce costs and antimicrobial consumption significantly.

Closures and layoffs from some of the largest drug manufacturers in the U.S. have not rattled South Korean company Lotte Biologics from acquiring a pharmaceutical plant in Syracuse, N.Y., according to a March 27 report from syracuse.com.

Genentech, Roche's biotech company based in South San Francisco, is closing a plant and laying off 265 workers, Mercury News reported March 25. 

The Biden administration has denied a petition that would have reduced the price of Xtandi, a drug developed at the University of California, Los Angeles, to treat prostate cancer.

The top pharmacy school ranked by passage rates of the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination tests is outside the U.S., according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. 

Low-income patients, rural communities and safety-net hospitals have been disadvantaged by restrictions placed on 340B discounts for drugs dispensed at community and specialty contract pharmacies, a new report said.

For about an hour and a half on March 22, four pharmaceutical supply experts outlined ideas to lawmakers to reform the nation's slippery access to critical drugs. 

As tensions heat up surrounding 340B, UC San Diego Health said the federal program — which aims to lower prescription drug prices for hospitals that treat low-income and uninsured patients — is a "vital lifeline."

The monthslong shortage of Ozempic — a type 2 diabetes drug popularized by TikTok trends and celebrity use for its off-label use for weight loss — has seen a reprieve, according to the FDA. 

Essentia Health's Miller Hill surgery center and pharmacy in Duluth, Minn., are set to reopen March 22 after a roof collapse at the Miller Hill Mall where its facilities are located forced closure.

Drug shortages, which increased nearly 30 percent from 2021 to 2022, pose health and national security risks, according to a new report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. 

An FDA advisory panel voted for and against the clinical benefit of tofersen — Biogen's investigational drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which failed to pass its primary endpoint in a late-stage trial — on March 22.