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.

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.