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US FDA Works To Stay Ahead Of Benzodiazepine Misuse

 
• By Laura Helbling

FDA and NIH are looking to spark research on approaches to reduce use of benzodiazepines and to help mitigate issues with withdrawal associated with the widely prescribed therapies.

NIH and FDA are keeping their eye out for products that could help patients withdraw from benzodiazepines. • Source: Alamy

Concerns about overprescribing and misuse of benzodiazepines are nothing new for the US Food & Drug Administration. Questions about potential abuse of the drugs date back to the 1980s.

However, in the context of the more recent prescription opioid abuse crisis, there is increased interest both in avoiding the significant risks of combining to the two medications and in heading off a

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Safety Review Prompts EMA to Suspend Ixchiq Chikungunya Vaccine For Seniors

 
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The European Medicines Agency is investigating whether Valneva’s Ixchiq is safe to use in the elderly, following reports of 17 serious adverse events, including two cases resulting in death, in people aged 62 to 89 years who received the vaccine. This follows actions by US and French authorities last month regarding Ixchiq’s use in people over 65.

Opioid Safety: US FDA Hears Mixed Messages On Adding Posmarketing Studies To Labeling

 
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Some advisory committee members said adding quantitative data on misuse, abuse, opioid use disorder and overdose to labeling would be helpful, but others worried the two epidemiological studies were not sufficiently generalizable to a broader population.

US FDA Asks Adcomm If Opioid Postmarketing Studies Are Relevant, Warrant Action

 
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Two US FDA advisory committees will discuss results from epidemiological studies that attempted to quantify the prevalence, incidence and risk factors for misuse, abuse, overdose and death with opioid analgesics.

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