The FDA has approved naloxegol (Movantik – AstraZeneca), a pegylated derivative of the opioid antagonist naloxone, for oral treatment of opioid-induced constipation in adults with chronic noncancer pain. It is the only oral opioid antagonist approved for this indication in the US.

The FDA has approved isavuconazonium sulfate (Cresemba – Astellas) for intravenous and oral treatment of invasive aspergillosis and invasive mucormycosis in adults. Isavuconazonium sulfate is a prodrug of isavuconazole, a broad-spectrum triazole antifungal.

Direct-to-consumer advertisements continue to urge patients who take warfarin (Coumadin, and others) for atrial fibrillation to ask their doctors about the benefits of one or another of the newer oral anticoagulants.

The FDA has approved an orally disintegrating tablet (ODT) formulation of rimegepant (Nurtec ODT – Biohaven), a small-molecule calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist ("gepant"), for acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults. Rimegepant is the second oral gepant to become available in the US; ubrogepant (Ubrelvy), which is approved for the same indication, was the first. Four parenteral CGRP antagonists, erenumab (Aimovig), fremanezumab (Ajovy), galcanezumab (Emgality), and eptinezumab (Vyepti), are approved for prevention of...

The FDA has approved aliskiren/amlodipine/hydrochlorothiazide (Amturnide) for treatment of hypertension, with no restrictions except that it should not be used for initial therapy. A combination of the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren and the calcium channel blocker amlodipine (Tekamlo) was approved earlier for initial treatment.1Use of combination tablets is, of course, more convenient than taking the components separately, and as long as all the same doses are available and the cost is no greater, there is no reason not to use them.Aliskiren alone or in combination has not been shown to...

Antibiotic treatment of group A streptococcal pharyngitis can relieve symptoms, limit transmission of infection, and prevent suppurative and nonsuppurative sequelae. Clinical findings may be unreliable, however, in establishing the diagnosis, and conventional throat cultures take overnight or longer to produce results. Rapid office tests for streptococcal pharyngitis can make the diagnosis in about 10 minutes. Since the previous Medical Letter article on this subject (Medical Letter, 27:49, 1985), many new tests have been marketed, including some that use new technologies.

An intravenous formulation of amiodarone (Cordarone IV -Wyeth-Ayerst) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment and prophylaxis of recurrent ventricular fibrillation (VF) or hemodynamically unstable ventricular tachycardia (VT) in patients refractory to other therapy.

Fexofenadine (fex oh fen' a deen) hydrochloride (Allegra - Hoechst Marion Roussel) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis. An active metabolite of terfenadine, fexofenadine is being heavily advertised as "nonsedating...without 'black box' warnings."

Trandolapril (tran doe la pril; Mavik - Knoll) has become the ninth angiotensin-converting- enzyme (ACE) inhibitor to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of hypertension.

Olanzapine (Zyprexa - Lilly), a thienobenzodiazepine that structurally resembles and binds to many of the same receptors as clozapine (Clozaril), is now available in the USA for treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.