Pharmaceuticals

A pandemic lockdown, school closures, and a shocking 90% unemployment rate have made it easy for youths in Harare to see crystal meth as an escape, 

Vaccination may be a pass to certain activities—but what about actual vaccine passports?  

81,003. That’s the number of overdose deaths the CDC recorded in the 12 months leading up to last June as lockdowns upended lives and gutted addiction treatment services.   It was the most ever recorded in the US in a 12-month period.

Amid complaints of shortages and patchy supply chains, the Biden administration has announced a surge in deliveries to US states in the coming weeks, AP reports.   With a new round of purchasing from Pfizer and Moderna, the administration says there will be enough vaccines…

Pharma giant Merck has halted work on its 2 COVID vaccines, citing disappointing immune responses, STAT reports this morning.  

The customers lined up outside a rural Michigan Walmart, often driving long distances to get for powerful drugs—morphine sulfate, oxycodone and other narcotics.  Many paid cash for sketchy “pill-mill” style prescriptions, signed by unreachable doctors.  

Pharmaceuticals are disappearing across Lebanon, sending people scrambling to find pain relievers and antidepressants to diabetes treatments and pills used to treat fevers from COVID-19,

Purdue Pharma has reached a controversial ~$8.3 billion settlement with the US Justice Department over its role in the opioid crisis that has killed 232,000+ Americans, 

In the 1990s, Australian government researchers (bankrolled by a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, Tasmanian Alkaloids) found a way to genetically modify poppies—allowing the plant to preserve larger amounts of thebaine, a key ingredient needed to produce drugs like…

One industry that is thriving during the pandemic: alcohol.   Selling takeout booze has been a lifeline for many businesses. The alcohol delivery service Drizly has seen sales rise 350% over the same time last year.