Clinical News

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) is providing quality improvement strategies for pharmacy practice settings across the continuum of care.

Pharmacists can play a significant role in advocating for the screening and treatment of this disease state. They are in a unique position to improve patient outcomes in late-life depression.

New research published in Obstetrics & Gynecology indicates the oral thrombin inhibitor, dabigatran, and its prodrug, dabigatran etexilate mesylate transfer from pregnant women to their fetuses via the placenta and could potentially affect fetal blood coagulation.

A care transition program for hospital patients with bedside delivery of postdischarge medications and follow-up calls by pharmacists shortly after discharge had the greatest impact on elderly patients, resulting in a lower likelihood of 30-day readmission, according to a report published May 1 in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

A pharmacist’s participation on medical teams treating HIV-positive hospital patients reduces medication errors as well as spots and corrects them sooner, according to a report published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy.

Advocacy issues discussed at the conference included two pieces of proposed legislation that would affect compensation for pharmacists and collaborative practice agreements between pharmacists and physicians.

A subanalysis of the Phase 3 ARISTOTLE trial indicates that apixaban reduces the risk of stroke regardless of whether a patient’s blood pressure is controlled.

FDA approves a powder delivery system combining a corticosteroid and a LABA.

The National Lipid Association just released a report addressing six safety issues related to statin therapy, including the effects of statins on cognition, diabetes risk, liver function, muscle symptoms, interactions with other drugs, and statin intolerance. The report, published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, is an update to a consensus report published by the organization in 2006.

Higher dietary fiber intake among myocardial infarction (MI) survivors lowers the risk of subsequent all cause and cardiovascular mortality, according to a prospective study published April 29 in BMJ.

Due to the number of vaccine errors reported to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) National Vaccine Errors Reporting System, the organization has developed recommendations for practitioners to reduce such errors.

Patients who use statins are consuming more calories and fats than a decade earlier, increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, according to a study published online in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Pharmacist-led care with prescribing authority substantially improved risk factors at 6 months among stroke survivors versus nurse case managers who monitored patients and provided feedback to their primary care physicians, according to a report published in the Canadian Medical Association’s journal, CMAJ.

Since the late 1990s, USA300, a strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has spread across the United States, contributing to an epidemic of community-associated [CA] MRSA. The strains can persist in residential homes after infections, and appear to be linked to high usage of fluoroquinolones, according to a study published in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences.

Despite strong FDA warnings against its use in adolescents, a new study suggests that codeine is prescribed for children during at least 500,000 emergency room (ER) visits each year.

Pharmacists who contacted high-risk patients within 72 hours of discharge from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, found more than half of the patients had medication-related issues. In a different group of high-risk patients who had received inpatient interventions, 35% of patients were found to have issues after a pharmacist reviewed their medications just prior to discharge, according to Laura Carr, PharmD.

An eight-week regimen of ledipasvir-sofosbuvir was highly effective in treating non-cirrhotic HCV patients with genotype infection.

Nearly one-third of the ADHD-diagnosed foster-care youth received atypical antipsychotics regardless of age group.

The sublingual tablet provides a new treatment option for patients who decline allergy shots

“Healthcare professionals should consider whether the benefits of Doribax treatment are likely to exceed its potential risks in patients who develop pneumonia while on ventilators,” says FDA.

Conditions targeted by the first guidelines geared specifically to women include migraine, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, and atrial fibrillation.

Once-daily simeprevir should be used in combination with peginterferon alpha and ribavirin. It is not a monotherapy.

Groundbreaking new therapies for HCV are now available. As experts in screening and treatment guidelines, pharmacists can lead in managing these new options for patient care.

Critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation in an intensive care unit (ICU) may be at increased risk of a new psychiatric illness and medication use following hospital release, according to a report published March 19 in JAMA.

Unfortunately, U.S. adults don’t know enough about the safety of vaccines and the risks associated with not receiving scheduled vaccinations for highly contagious diseases, according to a survey released by the National Consumers League (NCL).

Inventory control and timely communications are key to managing during a drug shortage.

ASHP, ISMP, AHA, and other stakeholders have developed a list of long-term strategies to address drug shortages and released their recommendations in a new report.

Chronically ill adults don’t have consistent access to food due to lack of financial stability were significantly more likely to report cost-related medication underuse, according to a new study published in The American Journal of Medicine. Cost-related medication underuse refers to taking less medication than prescribed, or not taking it at all because of financial concerns.

More than a decade after the clinical battle began with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), physicians are still trying to figure out how to diagnose, treat, and prevent this virulent form of staph infection, which is immune to many antibiotics.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is accepting public comments until April 3 on its new hepatitis C screening guidelines.