Weight loss drugs have risen in popularity. In the past three years, the number of young people taking the drugs increased by 594.4%. A new study suggests that the drugs could profoundly impact the U.S. health care system if they become widely covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Sen. Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate Committee…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave Neuralink the green light to implant its brain chip in a second human patient. The decision came just one week after the Elon Musk-backed startup admitted many of the device’s wires disconnected from its first patient’s brain. Neuralink made several changes to the device and how it…

A report from Reuters on Wednesday, May 15, found that Elon Musk’s company, Neuralink, knew about the possibility of tiny wires coming loose from its experimental brain implant device years before the first human patient experienced the issue. The company became aware of the issues with the device, which gives paralyzed patients the ability to…

The avian flu has reportedly spread to 42 dairy herds across nine states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Now, concerns are being raised about further spread of the virus to humans. There have been only two confirmed cases in humans so far. However, the Colorado Department of Health reported on…

On Wednesday, May 1, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., signed a bill outlawing the manufacturing and distribution of lab-grown meat, making Florida the first state to ban it. Despite the product not being available in stores yet, other states are following suit. “Take your fake lab-grown meat elsewhere,” DeSantis declared. “We’re not doing that in the…

Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has acknowledged in U.K. court documents that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause a rare side effect, as first reported by The Telegraph. Dozens of victims have filed a class-action lawsuit claiming the vaccine caused death or serious injuries. AstraZeneca submitted legal documents to the High Court in the U.K., accepting that its…

The Biden administration wants to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The proposed change will need to go through a formal rule-making process which includes interagency reviews, public input and regulatory analysis.  According to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Schedule I drugs have no currently accepted medical use…

In an effort to contain the recent outbreak of bird flu, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has implemented new regulations for lactating dairy cows. As of Monday, April 29, the cows must test negative for the virus before being transported across state lines. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported on Friday, April…

A bottlenose dolphin off the coast of Florida has tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), commonly known as bird flu. This marks the first known case of its kind on the continent. University of Florida researchers made the discovery and reported the findings in Communications Biology on Monday, April 29. The dolphin…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Thursday, April 25, that one in five commercial milk samples tested in a nationwide survey contained particles of the H5N1 virus. The announcement suggests that the outbreak of bird flu might have deeply penetrated the dairy industry across the United States. Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious…