DRUGS

VIENNA A heroin "epidemic" is gripping the United States, where cheap supply has helped push the number of users to a 20-year high, increasing drug-related deaths, the United Nations said on Thursday. According to the U.N.'s World Drug Report 20

LISBON The drug ecstasy is making a comeback in Europe, spreading as a mainstream party narcotic away from its niche use at dance clubs and reaching new young users, the Lisbon-based European drug agency said on Tuesday in a report. The report found

Reuters Health - Although use of drugs to treat diabetes and other diseases related to obesity may decline after weight-loss surgery, use of neurological and psychiatric drugs may rise sharply, suggests a new study. Based on thousands of patients in

UNITED NATIONS Singapore on Wednesday blasted widespread calls to make the worldwide fight against illicit drugs less punitive, using a major meeting at the United Nations to argue that a "soft approach" would cause a flood of narcotics to the i

n">(Reuters Health) - Commonly used drugs for problems like colds, allergies, depression, high blood pressure and heart disease have long been linked to cognitive impairment and dementia. Now researchers have some fresh evidence that may help expl

MEXICO CITY A senior Mexican official has said legalizing cultivation of opium poppies for medicinal purposes might help reduce violence in one of the regions most affected by brutal drug gangs that have ravaged the country for years. Hector Astudill

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK A decision by Turing Pharmaceuticals to increase profits by raising the price of a lifesaving drug by 5,000 percent drove some patient co-pays up to $16,000, according to excerpts of documents that congressional committee members

BOGOTA Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos on Tuesday signed a decree that legalizes medical marijuana, a move he says does not weaken the government's fight against illicit crops and drug trafficking. The decree allows therapeutic use of marijua

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK A pediatric doctor in Alabama had to scramble to find a less expensive supply of a lifesaving drug to treat an infant who was suffering from a parasitic infection. In Utah, a hospital has been forced to change the way it stocks a

ZURICH Novartis' phase III study for its acute myeloid leukemia (AML) drug showed it improved overall survival by 23 percent for patients with FLT3 mutations, the Swiss drugmaker said on Sunday. Basel-based Novartis said the study was the first large

ZURICH The European Commission has approved Novartis' Entresto drug for the treatment of adult patients with symptomatic chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, the Swiss drugmaker said on Tuesday. Entresto is the first new drug in deca

BOGOTA Colombia said on Friday it plans to legalize medical marijuana in a further shift in drug policy after suspending aerial fumigation of illicit crops. The government is preparing a decree which would approve the therapeutic use of marijuana, th

BOSTON Democratic White House front-runner Hillary Clinton laid out her $10 billion plan on Thursday to tackle drug and alcohol addiction in the United States by boosting spending on treatment for addicts. The plan, unveiled early last month, focuses

WASHINGTON With a rise nationally in fatal heroin overdoses, the White House on Monday will announce a plan pairing law enforcement officials with public health workers in an effort to emphasize treatment rather than prosecution of addicts, the Washi

BOSTON Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker unveiled a $27 million plan on Monday to increase the state's capacity to treat drug addicts and reduce the stigma around addiction, as the United States battles a surge in heroin and opioid use. "Opioid ab

LISBON European Union countries are unlikely to legalize marijuana any time soon as some parts of the United States have done recently, EU drug monitoring agency chief Wolfgang Gotz said on Thursday. He did not spell out why he expected no correspond

SAN FRANCISCO California scientists are testing whether the illegal psychoactive drug commonly known as Ecstasy could help alleviate anxiety for terminally ill patients, the trial's principal funder said on Tuesday. At least a dozen subjects with lif

(This March 25 story has been refiled to clarify quotes in paragraphs 16 and 18) By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – - Schools that use suspension to punish drug use, or that weakly enforce any of their drug policies, have higher rates of student mar

CHICAGO U.S. and Liberian researchers have started a clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc's Ebola drug ZMapp, an experimental treatment that has already been tried in a handful of Ebola patients, including

DOWNINGTOWN, Pa. The desperate cry of a mother finding her 17-year-old son dead from a painkiller and another prescription drug instantly silences hundreds of Pennsylvania high school students who listen to her 911 call played at an early morning ass