Pharmaceuticals

Discount pharmacy retailer Chemist Warehouse will be allowed to merge with Sigma Healthcare to create an $8.8 billion pharmaceutical giant after being approved by Australia's competition regulator.

Patients have told ABC NEWS they're concerned about a lack of informed consent over Australia's most common osteoporosis drug, and are sometimes "scared into" taking it. 

When a WA town's long-serving GP went on prolonged leave, the local pharmacy tried to fill part of the gap. But the AMA says "a store full of drugs doesn't mean you can treat a condition in a holistic way".

Steep costs have driven some Aussies to switch from brand-name medicine to its generic counterpart. Here's the price difference.

Australians aged 18 and over looking to buy a vape without a prescription can now do so legally under changes to national vaping legislation that come into effect today.

The rate of psychiatric medication prescribed to Australian children and teenagers has more than doubled in the past 10 years, according to new government data.

Here’s what a review of assessment processes for medicines and vaccines suggested could be done to reduce PBS listing wait times.

A single combined pill could ease the "tablet burden" for people who take multiple medications a day, researchers say. 

From a young age, Emily Naismith watched her peers die from cystic fibrosis. The drug Trikafta gave her a future but she says forming a new identity has been complex.

Health authorities have assured the public there is ample supply of IV fluids for humans in hospitals, but have begun making moves to conserve stock levels of the crucial substance.

Australian health services and veterinary clinics are conserving their stock of intravenous fluid or using alternative products amid a global shortage of saline solutions.

SA Health is warning of the life-threatening dangers of a synthetic opioid after an Adelaide man almost died in hospital when he consumed a single street-purchased oxycodone pill last week. 

The Gold Coast will host the state's second pill-testing clinic from July as the first of its kind in Brisbane is deemed a "success".

Jill's vaping dependence and attempts to quit became a social media journey followed by millions. Here's what she thinks about the changes to Australia's vaping laws.

Neuroblastoma is a malignant tumour of the adrenal gland. A condition that usually affects children. Medication used to treat this condition is available in the US, but not in Australia.

The US Supreme Court rules against an estimated $9 billion Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan that would have shielded the wealthy Sackler family from legal liability over opioid-related overdoses. 

Priceline, TerryWhite Chemmart and other major pharmacy chains reject new vaping laws making them the only legal sellers of vapes, signalling to franchisees they should not sell the products without a prescription.

The Coalition has been ruminating internally over how to handle the government's impending vape ban. Who would have thought they would land on option two: inhale, reverse the ban, bring in a new tax and declare war on organised crime.

A synthetic opioid — which has been linked to a rise in overdose deaths overseas — has emerged on the illicit drug scene, with some experts warning it has the potential to be Australia's version of a "fentanyl crisis".

The ACCC is wary about the proposed merger of Chemist Warehouse and Sigma Healthcare. But other decisions will matter more for service and prices. They concern pharmacy discounting and location rules, and they'll involve taking on existing owners.