Surgeons and health system leaders are voicing concerns about the unknown long-term risks of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Saxenda. 

The FDA issued a final rule Nov. 21 that will require drugmakers to clearly state side effects and contraindications in direct-to-consumer advertisements. The rule is effective May 20, 2024. 

There's been a slight slowdown in reports of new drug shortages before the winter holiday season, but six medications recently entered the list of ongoing shortages, which include about 300 drugs. 

Seven senators are questioning why Sanofi and AstraZeneca underestimated the demand for Beyfortus, the first pediatric drug approved for respiratory syncytial virus. 

Timber Pharmaceuticals filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 17. 

Leigh Briscoe-Dwyer, PharmD, is mentoring the next generation of pharmacists as she pulls on her years of experience, according to a Nov. 17 article from Binghamton (N.Y.) University. 

The FDA approved CorMedix's Defencath Nov. 15, marking it the first and only catheter lock solution for catheter-related bloodstream infections. 

An FDA panel is urging Acrotech Biopharma to accelerate research into the efficacy of two blood cancer drugs brought to market via the agency's accelerated approval pathway.

In early 2023, the number of drug shortages hit a 10-year high. A fourth of these shortages are more than five years old, and 58% are older than two years, according to a new report.

Novo Nordisk reimburses its staff who've been prescribed the drugs it develops — including its expensive weight loss drug Wegovy, Bloomberg reported Nov. 15. The drugmaker employs about 21,000 people in Denmark. 

Walgreens will close locations outside of its 24-hour stores on Thanksgiving Day — a first for the company announced weeks after pharmacists at U.S. drugstore chains staged a walkout. 

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists rolled out a national membership organization for pharmacy technicians Nov. 16. 

Pharmacies have long faced "clawback fees" from pharmacy benefit managers, and a federal answer to the issue is causing another problem, KFF Health News reported Nov. 15. 

Drones, robots and automated technologies are increasingly deployed across the healthcare landscape to speed workflows and improve efficiency. For pharmacists, amid a nationwide staffing shortage, tech is allowing them to work at the top of their license and serve more patients.

Three years after Mallinckrodt filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the Dublin-based drugmaker said Nov. 14 it has stabilized its business. 

Pittsburgh-based UPMC's Center for Connected Medicine teamed up with KLAS Research to survey 25 health system pharmacy leaders whose systems operate an average of seven ambulatory pharmacies each. 

Denmark-based Novo Nordisk is limiting its supply of insulin products, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists' drug shortage database. 

A year after the FDA found shredded quality documents at an Intas Pharmaceuticals drug manufacturing facility in India, Intas' parent company Accord Healthcare resumed making cisplatin, which has been in dire shortage for months.

The nation's second-largest pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts, is leaning into Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs' business plan by selling drugs priced by their acquisition cost, pharmacy dispensing and service costs.

We're all often guilty of it. Being so busy that we begin to rush. I often need to take a figurative and literal breath to remember why I – and I'm sure many of us – became pharmacists in the first place: to help people lead healthier lives.