Don’t let ‘FDA-approved’ or ‘patented’ in ads give you a false sense of security

Is that really a stamp of approval? iStock/Getty Images Plus If you’ve ever reached for a bottle of moisturizer labeled “patented” or “FDA approved,” you might want to think twice.…

Dietary supplements and protein powders fall under a ‘wild west’ of unregulated products that necessitate caveats and caution

Dietary supplements are a big business. The industry made almost US$39 billion in revenue in 2022, and with very little regulation and oversight, it stands to keep growing. The marketing…

Dietary supplements and protein powders fall under a ‘wild west’ of products that necessitate caveats and caution

Dietary supplements are a big business. The industry made almost US$39 billion in revenue in 2022, and with very little regulation and oversight, it stands to keep growing. The marketing…

Popularly known as ‘gas station heroin,’ tianeptine is being sold as a dietary supplement – with deadly outcomes

The Food and Drug Administration is upping the urgency of its warnings for consumers to avoid purchasing or consuming tianeptine – commonly called “gas station heroin” – a synthetic drug…

FDA’s latest warnings about eye drop contamination put consumers on edge − a team of infectious disease experts explain the risks

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning in late October 2023 urging consumers to avoid purchasing and to immediately stop using 26 over-the-counter eye drop products because of risk…

CDC greenlights two updated COVID-19 vaccines, but how will they fare against the latest variants? 5 questions answered

On Sept. 12, 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the newly formulated COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans ages 6 months and up, hours after its expert advisory…

More adults than ever have been seeking ADHD medications – an ADHD expert explains what could be driving the trend

As a woman in my 30s who was constantly typing “ADHD” into my computer, something interesting happened to me in 2021. I started receiving a wave of advertisements beckoning me…

WHO expert cancer group states that the sweetener aspartame is a possible carcinogen, but evidence is limited – 6 questions answered

The World Health Organization declared on July 14, 2023, that the widely used synthetic sweetener aspartame could be a “possible” carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent, on the basis of “limited evidence…

Blame capitalism? Why hundreds of decades-old yet vital drugs are nearly impossible to find

Past public ire over high drug prices has recently taken a back seat to a more insidious problem – no drugs at any price. Patients and their providers increasingly face…

How does the new over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, work to prevent pregnancy? 5 questions answered

The Food and Drug Administration’s July 13, 2023, approval of the first over-the-counter birth control pill, called Opill, broadens the options for people seeking to prevent pregnancy. When Opill becomes…