Do drug-eluting stents carry thrombosis risk?
November 20th 2006Drug-eluting stents (DESs) greatly reduce the chances of restenosis, a gradual growth of abnormal cells within the stent. However, the results of a new study reveal that DESs may also put patients at a higher risk for a sudden and potentially fatal thrombosis.
New tablet manages breakthrough pain
November 20th 2006The Food & Drug Administration recently approved fentanyl buccal tablets (Fentora, Cephalon) for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients who are already receiving and who are tolerant to opioids for their underlying persistent cancer pain. Fentora is the first and only buccal tablet approved for this indication and is the first tablet formulation of the opioid fentanyl. It is also the first new medication approved for the treatment of breakthrough pain in opioid-tolerant patients with cancer since 1998.
Is your pharmacy providing 24/7 coverage?
November 20th 2006At most large tertiary care hospitals and academic medical centers, around-the-clock pharmacy service is relatively common. But in some small and rural hospitals, 24-hour, seven-day-a-week pharmacy coverage is not economically feasible or practical. How are pharmacy services provided in those facilities? And how do health-system pharmacists feel about a Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations proposal that would require all hospital pharmacies to provide 24/7 service?
PPSI to FDA: Regulate acetaminophen labeling
November 20th 2006Pharmacists Planning Service Inc. (PPSI) has submitted a citizen's petition to the Food & Drug Administration to regulate the labeling and packaging of acetaminophen/APAP-containing products so that the label states, "Contains acetaminophen. Do not take with any other acetaminophen/ APAP." PPSI is also asking that no more than 50 tablets be sold in a bottle and that the FDA mandate a MedGuide.
JP at large: Where's the love?
November 20th 2006Recently, a certified pharmacy technician expressed her frustration when she and her pharmacist were blamed for unprofessional conduct in their telephone transaction with a doctor. The prescriber claimed to be too important to waste her time digging up numbers that the pharmacist needed to fill her patient's prescription. The doctor immodestly identified herself as a well-known and celebrated practitioner. This, apparently, was a good enough reason to refuse the request for her DEA number.
Health plans and pharmacists collaborate on Part D booklet
November 20th 2006In an extension of cooperation begun earlier this year, health insurance plans and pharmacist groups have created a booklet and a Web site to guide Medicare beneficiaries through choosing a 2007 Part D plan, just as open enrollment is set to begin on Nov. 15.
First in DPP-4 inhibitor class cleared for diabetes
November 20th 2006The long-awaited first dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor will soon make its debut. Januvia (sitagliptin), from Merck & Co., has been approved by the Food & Drug Administration as both a monotherapy and an add-on treatment to improve glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes.