The potassium-competitive acid blocker vonoprazan (Voquezna – Phathom), which was approved earlier for treatment of erosive esophagitis, has now been approved by the FDA for relief of heartburn associated with nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in adults. Vonoprazan is also available copackaged with amoxicillin (Voquezna Dual Pak) and with amoxicillin and clarithromycin (Voquezna Triple Pak) for treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Tramadol (Ultram, and others) and gabapentin (Neurontin, and others) are increasingly being prescribed for treatment of chronic pain despite reports of serious adverse events associated with their use. Both drugs are touted as safer and less addictive than strong opioids, but supporting evidence is lacking.

The FDA has expanded its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty) to permit use of the bivalent formulation (containing mRNA from the original and BA.4/5 Omicron strains of SARS-CoV-2) as a booster dose in children 6 months to 4 years old who completed the primary series with 3 doses of the monovalent formulation ≥2 months previously. The Pfizer bivalent vaccine had previously been authorized for use as a booster dose in persons ≥5 years old and as a third primary dose in children 6 months to 4 years old. Booster...

In the recent Medical Letter article on Drugs for Chronic Heart Failure (2025: 67:81), the paragraph on adverse effects of SGLT2 inhibitors should have stated that these drugs can cause ketoacidosis, which can be fatal, especially in patients with type 1 diabetes.

View the Comparison Chart: Some Drugs for Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (IBS-C)

Lunsotogene parvec (Otarmeni – Regeneron), an adeno-associated viral vector-based gene therapy, has received accelerated approval from the FDA for treatment of severe-to-profound or profound sensorineural hearing loss (any frequency >90 decibels hearing level [dB HL]) in patients with confirmed variants in both copies of the otoferlin (OTOF) gene. It is the first gene therapy to be approved in the US for genetic hearing loss.

The FDA has expanded its Emergency Use Authorization for the adjuvanted protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Novavax to include its use as a first booster dose in adults who completed a primary series with any COVID-19 vaccine ≥6 months previously and are unable or unwilling to receive a booster dose of a bivalent mRNA vaccine. The Novavax vaccine is not authorized for use in persons who have received a booster dose of any other COVID-19 vaccine.

View the Comparison Chart: Safety of Drugs for IBS in Pregnancy and Lactation

Zusduri (UroGen), a mitomycin-based solution for intravesical instillation, has been approved by the FDA for treatment of recurrent low-grade intermediate-risk nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) in adults. It is the first drug to be approved in the US for this indication. Mitomycin has been available for years for treatment of various malignancies.

The Interruption of Anticoagulation section of our article on Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation cited the recommendations of the American College of Chest Physicians on perioperative management of antithrombotic therapy (JD Douketis et al. Chest 2022; 162:e207). A reader suggested that our general statement on when to discontinue an oral anticoagulant would have benefited from inclusion of the recommendations of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (JA Joglar et al. Circulation 2024; 149:e1). Recommendations for periprocedural management of oral anticoagulant therapy...