Much still unknown about Medicare Part D
March 7th 2005Medicare prescription rules are final, but we won't know how the system works until it is thrown into the real world, said a former Department of Health & Human Services policy official who did early work on the program. It is there that the drug plans will strategize to make money and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will attempt to maintain oversight.
Dalbavancin treats gram-positive bacteremia
March 7th 2005New data, which were published in the Feb. 1, 2005, issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, demonstrated that Vicuron Pharmaceuticals' investigational antibiotic, dalbavancin, administered once per week, is more effective in treating catheter-related bloodstream infections than is twice-daily treatment with vancomycin.
It's splitsville for GM and Walgreens
March 7th 2005General Motors' decision to drop Walgreens as its drug provider has prompted the chain to fight back by publicizing "the myth of mail order." Walgreens claims employers can save money by giving workers the choice to fill 90-day supplies of chronic meds at retail or mail-order pharmacies rather than by requiring them to use the latter exclusively.
More R.Ph.s are seeking board certification
February 21st 2005Richard Bertin's optimism is contagious. Bertin, the executive director of the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS), expressed enthusiastically and in no uncertain terms that the future of specialized training is not only secure but also in the midst of a growth spurt. Bertin's confidence is bolstered by the fact that 2004 was BPS' strongest year in terms of number of new candidates. A total of 1,004 candidates at 34 sites worldwide were administered specialty certification or recertification exams.
Bar-code shortcuts lead to gaps in patient safety
February 21st 2005When three night-shift nurses at a large metropolitan medical center in the Northeast recently called in sick, the skeleton crew on a busy medical/surgical unit ignored the usual protocol involved in the bedside bar-coding of medications. Instead of scanning each patient's wristband and then the bar code on the medication package while at the patient's bedside, the nurses created surrogate patient bar codes and scanned all of them prior to going into patient rooms as a way to save time.
Medication error trends for 1999-2003
February 21st 2005Each year, beginning with 1999, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) has conducted an analysis of aggregate data submitted to the MEDMARX error reporting system database. The most recent report examines error trends over the five-year period 1999-2003. It also includes a special focus on technology-related errors, specifically computer entry, computerized prescriber order entry, and automated dispensing devices.
JCAHO issues alert on PCA by proxy
February 21st 2005Deadly medication errors related to patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) by proxy often result from the best of intentions, noted Rick Croteau, M.D., executive director for strategic initiatives for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. "Health-system pharmacists should help educate patients and staff about the dangers of family members administering a PCA device," he said. "With an intent to relieve suffering, they can cause a deadly incident."
More R.Ph.s are seeking board certification
February 21st 2005Richard Bertin's optimism is contagious. Bertin, the executive director of the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties (BPS), expressed enthusiastically and in no uncertain terms that the future of specialized training is not only secure but also in the midst of a growth spurt. Bertin's confidence is bolstered by the fact that 2004 was BPS' strongest year in terms of number of new candidates. A total of 1,004 candidates at 34 sites worldwide were administered specialty certification or recertification exams.
Mail-order program offers savings and pharmacy choice
February 21st 2005Last year several of the nations largest pharmacy chains publicly stated that they would not participate in prescription drug benefit plans that mandate the use of mail-order pharmacies. Retail pharmacies oppose mandated mail order because it does away with consumer choice and face-to-face counseling by a pharmacist.
Taming healthcare costs: Think third class of drugs
February 21st 2005Joe Graedon, pharmacologist, author, and syndicated health talk show host of "People's Pharmacy," is enthusiastic about future growth opportunities for pharmacists. He was very disappointed with the recent Food & Drug Administration decision denying Merck permission to market its statin drug Mevacor (lovastatin) over the counter.
First inhaled prostacyclin for pulmonary hypertension
February 21st 2005Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) affects roughly 50,000 people in the United States, yet only about 15,000 patients have been diagnosed and are receiving an approved treatment. The median survival time for patients left untreated following diagnosis may be as short as three years.
Inappropriate meds linked to adverse nursing home events
February 7th 2005Long-term care pharmacists who see a link between inappropriate medications and adverse drug events have a new ally. Denys Lau, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University, has documented an association between potentially inappropriate prescribing and hospitalization and death among elderly nursing home residents.
States invoke emergency rules to cut Medicaid rates
February 7th 2005State departments of health sometimes seek to circumvent their own procedural codes and avoid their legislatures by lowering Medicaid reimbursements and dispensing fees through emergency fiat. "They declare a state of budgetary emergency, then declare new rules and regulations," said Paul Baldwin, executive director of the Long Term Care Pharmacy Alliance (LTCPA) in Washington, D.C.
Inappropriate meds linked to adverse nursing home events
February 7th 2005Long-term care pharmacists who see a link between inappropriate medications and adverse drug events have a new ally. Denys Lau, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at Northwestern University, has documented an association between potentially inappropriate prescribing and hospitalization and death among elderly nursing home residents.
Canadian mail-order pharmacy in turmoil
February 7th 2005Already hurt by a drug company clampdown on supplies and a falling U.S. dollar that have raised prices to American consumers, Canadian mail-order pharmacies are bracing for a federal regulatory crackdown that they claim will force them to set up shop on friendlier shores.
California weighs dealing out new Rx discount card
February 7th 2005California is debating the details of a state-sponsored prescription drug discount card set to launch next January. The state's Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, unveiled the California Pharmacy Assistance Program, dubbed Cal Rx, last month.
New antibiotic class battles resistant infections
February 7th 2005The healthcare community faces an increasing clinical challenge in preventing and controlling the growing emergence of resistant organisms. Tigecycline (Tygacil, Wyeth) is one of a slim list of new antibiotics in development that shows substantial promise as a broad-spectrum agent with activity against many resistant gram-positive bacteria and, to a lesser extent, gram-negative bacteria.
New guidelines declare all inhalers are comparable
February 7th 2005The number of different devices for delivering inhaled medications has multiplied in the past two to three decades. Dozens of new products have hit the market since the 1970s. While the bounty of choices gives prescribers the flexibility to meet their patients' needs, information guiding prescribers through device selection was not readily available until recently.
Guidelines raise awareness of childhood migraine
February 7th 2005Migraine headaches are common in children and occur with increasing frequency through adolescence. The reported prevalence increases from 3% (age three to seven years) to 4%-11% (age seven to 11 years) to 8%-23% (age 11 to 15 and up). The mean age at onset is 7.2 years for boys and 10.9 years for girls.