Health-system edition letters

Beware of these Xigris dosing concerns

As a physician at Eli Lilly & Co., the manufacturer of Xigris (drotrecogin alfa [activated]), I am responding to an article that appeared in your Aug. 21 issue, referencing a pharmacy technician who created a "Xigris calculator."

While the dosing calculator is capable of producing results that are within recommended dosing guidelines with respect to concentration and infusion rate, it may lead to a potential deviation of the infusion duration, shortening the duration by as much as four hours.

Lilly communicated with the technician several months ago regarding the dosing calculator and expressed concern about potential dosing errors that could occur, introducing issues of patient safety.

Eli Lilly & Co. takes these matters seriously, and is committed to improving the health of patients and the appropriate utilization of its products in accordance with approved prescribing information.

Brad Woodward, M.D., MBA
Eli Lilly & Co.,
U.S. Medical Division
Indianapolis

An apology

Concerning your Sept. 18 article titled "Field tests planned for automated syringe system," in which I was quoted as saying "that while Intellifill is probably faster than RIVA, IntelliFill can prepare only batch doses." Intellifill is a product manufactured and sold by ForHealth Technologies. I was misinformed about the capabilities of Intellifill and was incorrect in saying that it can prepare only batch doses. In fact Intellifill has been producing patient-specific doses in U.S. hospitals since 2003.

Kevin McGarry
President and CEO
Intelligent Hospital Systems Ltd.