Weight-loss surgery may increase risk for the use or abuse of alcohol and illicit drugs, a new study suggests. Patients -- 132 women and 23 men -- who had undergone one of two commonly performed types of weight-loss surgery filled out questionnaires including items on their eating, smoking and recreational drug use before and after surgery. In general, use of such substances rose at the time of surgery with ...

Each year billions of dollars are spent in the search to find new cancer drugs. Very few of these would-be treatments end up being approved by the government and entering widespread use, which makes it all the more intriguing that one of the most promising new cancer drugs in years is, in fact, an old drug. Metformin, a diabetes drug, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1995, and since then ...

People with Alzheimer’s disease who continue taking the drug donepezil (Aricept) do get some benefit even as their symptoms worsen, a new study suggests. While the drug is approved for all stages of the memory-robbing disease, many people stop taking it. As a patient’s memory and behavior problems get more severe, it can be hard to tell if the benefit of the treatment outweighs the risk of side effects, suc ...

The battle of the bulge has been a big, fat failure for U.S. drugmakers. But that hasn't stopped them from trying. For nearly a century, scientists have struggled to make a diet pill that helps people lose weight without side effects that range from embarrassing digestive issues to dangerous heart problems. But this week, federal health advisers endorsed the weight loss pill Qnexa even though the FDA previo ...

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Tuesday it submitted an official response addressing safety concerns of U.S. health regulators over the company's experimental weight loss drug lorcaserin, and believes it will gain U.S. approval. Lorcaserin, which is being developed in partnership with Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co Ltd, is one of three new potential obesity treatments rejected by the Food and Drug Administra ...

The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that drug maker Merck will pay $950 million to resolve investigations into its marketing of the painkiller Vioxx. The agency said Merck will pay $321.6 million in criminal fines and $628.4 million as a civil settlement agreement. It will also plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge that it marketed Vioxx as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis before getting U.S. Foo ...

For people with severe cases of psoriasis, the injectable drugs known as biologics can provide much-needed relief from the itchy, flaky skin lesions caused by the disorder. These drugs are powerful, however, and they carry a small risk of potentially serious infections and other side effects. In addition, recent clinical trials have linked a newer subclass of biologics that includes the drugs ustekinumab (S ...

Grammy-winning OutKast rapper Big Boi has been arrested in Miami on charges of illegally possessing drugs including ecstasy and Viagra pills. The rapper, whose real name is Antwan Patton, was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia on Sunday. According to the Miami-Dade County Corrections website, the 36-year-old Patton was also car ...

Rival drug cartels in Mexico are designing and building their own heavily armored vehicles. The improvised armor is typically equipped with swiveling turrets, sniper peepholes, oil-slick pumps, steel battering rams and a device that scatters nails on roadways. According to McClatchy, drug gangs are "upping their game," as two recently seized armored trucks boasted steel plating approximately an inch thick. ...

The growing use of a popular drug in the long-term treatment of bipolar disorder is based largely on a single, flawed clinical trial that may be steering doctors and patients away from drugs with a more established track record, a new review published this week in the journal PLoS Medicine suggests. The drug, Abilify (aripiprazole), was initially used to treat schizophrenia and acute episodes of mania, the ...