In December 2021, FDA permanently lifted a major restriction on medication abortions that had been temporarily lifted earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, patients were required to pick up mifepristone in person from a certified prescriber. In 2020, FDA temporarily lifted this in-person requirement. The new change from FDA will permanently allow any certified mail-order or brick-and-mortar pharmacy to dispense the drug with a prescription.

In what is believed to be the first study of its kind, researchers examined the cognitive processes health care professionals use to detect, resolve, and monitor adverse drug reactions.

A new study in The Lancet Regional Health Americas found that the proportion of overdose deaths involving nonbenzodiazepine sleeping drugs (also called z-drugs) and anti-epilepsy gabapentinoids increased more than threefold between 2000 and 2018, coinciding with exponential prescription increases since their introduction into the market.

A new report estimates that 82% of patients experienced medication delays in the last year because of COVID-19 restrictions, prescriptions cost, communication challenges, insurance processes, and/or lack of transportation.

FDA issued draft guidance about its plan to develop nonopioid analgesics for acute pain in an effort to spur the development of nonaddictive alternatives.FDA issued draft guidance about its plan to develop nonopioid analgesics for acute pain in an effort to spur the development of nonaddictive alternatives.