An FDA panel voted unanimously to withdraw the decongestant phenylephrine (PE) because it shows no benefit, something Sudafed PE users probably learned years ago. But the real story is why phenylephrine was on pharmacy shelves at all. It's all about the DEA and stupid drug policies, a story we've heard many times before.
methamphetamine
New data have been published on drug overdose deaths in 2020. Although you won't find it anywhere obvious, prescription opioid analgesics remain only a minor (and stable) contributor to the record 93,000 people who died from drug overdoses last year.
Indisputable evidence shows the absence of a correlation between the number of opioid prescriptions and opioid abuse or addiction. This has not, however, dissuaded practicing physicians from buying into the false narrative that prescribing opioids for pain is fueling the overdose crisis.
In today's "just when you think it can't get any worse" feature, DEA agents are now seizing counterfeit Adderall pills that contain pure methamphetamine. Although Mexican drug cartels are blamed for making these pills to get young people addicted to meth, the ultimate blame falls on DEA policies. What a mess.
Methamphetamine has made an unprecedented comeback, surpassing even fentanyl in drug overdose deaths in certain parts of the U.S. It hasn't shown up by accident; it's an offshoot of the misinformed anti-opioid movement. But it took two different government screwups to cause this latest mess: one that gave us pure, cheap meth and another that gave addicts the reason to use it. Nice going.
Dr. Singh, ACSH friend and former Chief Medical Officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for HHS, published a paper on the adulterants found in street drugs. What was in there? A lot of junk.
It's hayfever season, and this year it's brutal. People will be buying all kinds of drugs to stop sneezing and dry up runny noses, but most of them won't work very well. And if you dare wander into the abyss of online decongestants, you better read this article. That is, if you want to understand the thousands of products (mostly bad) that companies are hawking. This is nothing to sneeze about.
Beginning with Prohibition, all U.S. efforts to control drugs of abuse have made matters worse. Here's another. Methamphetamine is back, and it's killing more and more people. This was entirely predictable.
The CDC screws up yet again. This time it's meth.