Concerns have surfaced again at the FDA and in the media about the safety of acetaminophen and the multiplicity of products on the market in the US that contain various amounts of it.

The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that LDL-C be lowered to less than 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L) and considers a value <70 mg/dL (1.8 mmol/L) a reasonable goal for patients at very high risk.

Aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are common causes of peptic ulcer disease. Patients infected with Helicobacter pylori who take aspirin or another NSAID have an especially high risk. Drugs that have been tried for prevention of ulcers in patients taking NSAIDs including H2-receptor antagonists, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), aluminum- or magnesium-containing antacids, the prostaglandin misoprostol (Cytotec, and others), and antibiotics to eradicate H. pylori.Click here to view the free full...

Telavancin (Vibativ - Astellas and Theravance), a lipoglycopeptide derivative of vancomycin (Vancocin, and others), has received FDA approval for treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections caused by susceptible gram-positive bacteria in adults.

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The FDA has approved the sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor ertugliflozin (Merck) for treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes, both alone (Steglatro) and in fixed-dose combinations with metformin (Segluromet) and sitagliptin (Steglujan). Ertugliflozin is the fourth SGLT2 inhibitor to be approved in the US. All four are available in combination with metformin and three are available in combination with a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor (see Table 3).

The FDA has approved romosozumab-aqqg (Evenity – Amgen), a sclerostin inhibitor, for once-monthly subcutaneous (SC) treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women who are at high risk for fracture (history of osteoporotic fracture or multiple risk factors for fracture) or who have failed or cannot tolerate other drugs for this indication. Romosozumab is the first sclerostin inhibitor to be approved in the US and the third drug for treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis that stimulates bone formation; the parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor agonists abaloparatide (Tymlos) and...

The FDA has approved Bijuva (TherapeuticsMD), a fixed-dose combination of estradiol and progesterone, for oral treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes) due to menopause in women with an intact uterus. The manufacturer is marketing Bijuva as "the first and only FDA-approved combination of bio-identical estradiol and bio-identical progesterone in a single daily oral capsule".

Most patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) present with the relapsing-remitting form of the disease. Pharmacologic treatment usually includes a disease-modifying drug, corticosteroids for acute exacerbations, and other drugs for managing symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and pain. Early use of disease-modifying therapy has improved clinical outcomes.

Since the last Medical Letter review of cephalosporin antibiotics (volume 25, page 57, 1983), many new cephalosporins have become available in the USA.