Daphne Berryhill

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Expert guidelines on taking statins, a group of first-choice medications for managing high cholesterol, have changed over the years. In 2022, for example, experts changed the criteria for when prescribers should start their patients on a statin for the first time. But one thing has stayed the same: Many people who could benefit from statins don’t take them. To help improve access to these treatments, efforts are underway to make statins available over the counter (OTC). Here, we’ll cover safety concerns and discuss when we might see the first OTC statins on pharmacy shelves.

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Cabergoline is a prescription medication used to treat hyperprolactinemia (high prolactin levels). Prolactin is a hormone made by your pituitary gland. It’s important for regulating testosterone and estrogen levels. It also helps encourage breast milk production after giving birth. However, too much prolactin can cause a range of issues for women. This includes trouble getting pregnant. In some cases, you might take cabergoline to decrease prolactin levels and help with ovulation. This improves your chances of becoming pregnant.

For generations, psyllium has been a go-to solution for pooping problems. As a kid in the 80s, I remember my grandma mixing the orange powder into a glass of water to have alongside her morning coffee and toast. More recently, psyllium has gotten a millennial makeover, after drawing interest from younger crowds. From gluten-free bread recipes to boutique supplements with catchy names like ColonBroom, you can find psyllium all over socials. You may see it rebranded as “poor man’s Ozempic” or listed as a cure-all for [insert whatever ails you at the moment].

Each year, a select group of novel new drugs enter the U.S. market. In 2023, 55 new drugs were approved—adding to the more than 20,000 prescription drugs already in circulation. The process of evaluating and approving new drugs dates back to the 1960s, when the FDA began requiring evidence of a drug’s safety and efficacy based on data collected in multi-phase controlled clinical trials. As the decades have passed, the FDA has refined and reformed its process, with important efforts being made to increase clinical trial diversity, protect enrolled participants, and shorten the bench-to-market

"Pick me, pick me" turns into "Keep me, keep me." Will those haunting voices ever go away?

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Medication is a core component of patient care. Most adults regularly take some prescription drugs, and most also agree, according to a 2024 public opinion poll by KFF, that new drug therapies make people’s lives better. Access to safe and effective medications should be available to all, but equitable access often falls short. Marginalized groups, who often face higher rates of chronic disease, frequently encounter barriers to obtaining medications, such as limited insurance coverage. However, these inequalities often begin long before a drug even reaches the market.

Tizanidine (Zanaflex) is a muscle relaxer that’s FDA approved for muscle spasticity in adults. But it also has other “off-label” uses. In fact, research suggests up to 40% of prescriptions of tizanidine are for off-label uses. This is when a prescriber recommends a medication for a condition it’s not FDA approved to treat, but real-world research or experience suggests a benefit. Below, we look at TK tizanidine uses and what the research says about how well it works for each of these conditions. Plus, we’ll cover tizanidine side effects to help you weigh its risks and benefits.

For decades, researchers have looked for a safer alternative to opioids — a group of pain medications that come with a risk of misuse and overdose — that still works just as well. This long search has finally paid off. A non-opioid pain pill called suzetrigine (Journavx) demonstrated positive results in clinical trials, and the FDA approved it for use in January 2025. Here’s what to know about suzetrigine, a first-in-class opioid alternative.