CVS Pharmacy has agreed to pay $315 million to resolve Justice Department allegations that it illegally filled opioid and other controlled substance prescriptions, according to an Oct. 13 news release. Here are five things to know:
Pharmacy
The FDA has approved Teva Pharmaceuticals’ Weltruza (olanzapine) for extended-release injectable suspension to treat schizophrenia in adults. Weltruza is the first and only once-monthly subcutaneous long-acting injectable formulation of olanzapine, according to an Oct. 9 news release. The treatment requires…
The FDA has flagged four deaths among patients receiving Newron Pharmaceuticals’ investigational schizophrenia drug evenamide as a potential safety signal in its written explanation of a clinical hold on U.S. sites in a phase 3 trial. The four deaths occurred…
The prevalence of benzodiazepine dispensing in the U.S. fell 26.7% from 2013 to 2024, with the largest relative decline among adults ages 18-29, according to a study published Sept. 30 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Researchers from Rutgers University…
The Department of Veterans Affairs will introduce additional informed consent requirements for veterans receiving certain psychotropic medications starting in 2027, a move the agency said will give veterans more information as they make treatment decisions. Here are three things to…
Advertisement
Benzodiazepine use among Americans over 75 increased from 12% in 2020 to about 13% in 2024, even as concerns persist about the drugs’ risks for older adults, The New York Times reported Sept. 5. A recent study published in Annals…
A potent new synthetic opioid is spreading through the illicit drug supply, and federal officials are warning it’s harder to detect and harder to reverse than fentanyl alone. Cychlorphine has been linked to dozens of deaths since 2025, and it…
Dispensing of buprenorphine — the first medication to treat opioid use disorder that can be prescribed in physician offices — through retail pharmacies remained higher in rural counties than in urban counties from 2019 to 2025, while emergency department adoption…
Walmart has agreed to pay $50 million to resolve allegations that its pharmacies illegally filled thousands of invalid prescriptions for opioids and other controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The Justice Department alleged that Walmart’s compliance team…
The FDA cleared Amygdala Neurosciences’ Investigational New Drug application for ANS-858, allowing the company to move the drug into clinical development. ANS-858, the company’s lead clinical candidate, is a selective, reversible, orally bioavailable inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2), according…