Yellow fever may return; Childhood obesity medicine trials; CVS pulls cold medicines with phenylephrine - Morning Medical Update

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Yellow fever may return

Experts are afraid that yellow fever may soon return to the American South thanks to increased urbanization, global temperatures, and poor infrastructure. The mosquito borne illness is historically common and in 1853 it killed 11,000 in New Orleans. Today there is a single dose vaccine that provides lifelong protection.

Childhood obesity medicine trials

Eli Lilly is planning clinical trials of Mounjaro for obese children ages 6 and older. Lilly’s Danish rival Nordisk is also conducting trials on adolescents using semaglutide, sold under the brand Ozempic. Eli Lilly generated over $1.5 billion in sales of Mounjaro in the first half of 2023.

CVS pulls cold medicines with phenylephrine

CVS is removing oral cold medicines containing phenylephrine as the only active ingredient after the Food and Drug Administration unanimously decided that they are ineffective. Sudafed PE is one of the drugs being targeted. Last year retail stores in the U.S. sold 242 million bottles of medicine containing phenylephrine, according to data compiled by the FDA.