Pharmacology/Pharmaceutical Industry
Hospital Pharmacy: Choosing Wisely Canada New Recommendations Released
20 Feb, 2019 | 03:00h | UTCChoosing Wisely Canada: Six Things Clinicians and Patients Should Question – Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (free)
See complete lists of low-value practices: Choosing Wisely U.S. / Choosing Wisely UK / Choosing Wisely Australia AND Choosing Wisely Canada
Study: Fluconazole Linked to Increased Risk of Spontaneous Abortion
20 Feb, 2019 | 02:52h | UTCCommentaries: Risk of Spontaneous Abortion & Birth Defects with Oral Yeast Drug During Pregnancy – MedicalResearch.com (free) AND Common yeast infection pill tied to miscarriages – Reuters (free) AND Oral antifungal drug used to treat yeast infections linked to higher rates of miscarriage – CMAJ (free)
Guideline Summary: Deprescribing Cholinesterase Inhibitors and Memantine in Dementia
18 Feb, 2019 | 22:11h | UTCRelated: Position Statement: Reducing Inappropriate Medication Use & Polypharmacy (several articles and commentaries on the subject)
Meta-Analysis: Benefits and Harms of Pregabalin in the Management of Neuropathic Pain
15 Feb, 2019 | 00:51h | UTCRelated Cochrane Review (just published): Pregabalin for neuropathic pain in adults – Cochrane Library (free) and Commentary: Pregabalin for neuropathic pain: balancing benefits and harms – Evidently Cochrane (free)
Deprescribing Benzodiazepine Receptor Agonists Taken for Insomnia
15 Feb, 2019 | 00:39h | UTCRelated: Guideline: Deprescribing Benzodiazepines (free guideline and resources) AND Position Statement: Reducing Inappropriate Medication Use & Polypharmacy (several articles and commentaries on the subject)
https://twitter.com/JustinLeeMD/status/1095881022330322944?s=03
Medication Adherence: Scope of the Problem, Ways to Measure, Ways to Improve, and the Role of the Pharmacist
14 Feb, 2019 | 01:29h | UTC
Randomized Trial: Compounded Topical Pain Creams No Better Than Placebo to Treat Localized Chronic Pain
11 Feb, 2019 | 21:32h | UTCCompounded Topical Pain Creams to Treat Localized Chronic Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial – Annals of Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Topical creams likely ineffective in treating localized chronic pain – 2 Minute Medicine (free) AND Research pushes back on benefits of compounded topical pain creams – Johns Hopkins Medicine (free) AND Compounded Pain Creams – Expensive Placebos? – RheumNow (free)
Practical Guide for Pharmacists to Successfully Implement Penicillin Allergy Skin Testing
10 Feb, 2019 | 14:24h | UTC“Less than 10% of patients labeled as having a penicillin allergy are confirmed as present upon skin testing. This labeling results in use of alternative antibiotics and thus unwanted adverse consequences including potentiated antimicrobial resistance, increased costs, and worse clinical outcomes.”
Report: Gastroschisis Trends and Ecologic Link to Opioid Prescription Rates
7 Feb, 2019 | 15:12h | UTCCommentaries: CDC: What Opioid Use Has To Do With This Gut Spilling Birth Defect – Forbes (free) AND Rise in serious birth defect might be tied to opioid use, study says – CNN (free)
Study: Patterns in Outpatient Benzodiazepine Prescribing
7 Feb, 2019 | 15:13h | UTCPatterns in Outpatient Benzodiazepine Prescribing in the United States – JAMA Network Open (free)
Commentary: Steep Climb In Benzodiazepine Prescribing By Primary Care Doctors – NPR (free)
Related: A Quiet Drug Problem Among the Elderly – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free) AND Benzodiazepines: our other prescription drug epidemic – STAT (free)
Study: Undisclosed Financial Ties Between Guideline Writers and Pharmaceutical Companies
7 Feb, 2019 | 00:41h | UTCCommentaries: Undisclosed financial relationships revealed between doctors and drug companies – The Guardian (free) AND 24% of clinical guideline authors may have undisclosed ties to drug industry – Cardiovascular Business (free) AND Influential doctors aren’t disclosing their drug company ties – Croakey (free)
Related: Study: Financial Conflicts of Interest Among Authors of Clinical Guidelines (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Authors of premier medical textbook didn’t disclose $11 million in industry payments (free commentary) AND Study: Financial Conflicts of Interest Among Authors of Urology Guidelines (link to abstract) AND Perspective: Hidden Conflicts? (free) AND Study: Association of Compensation to Physicians From Industry and Self-declared Conflict of Interest (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Study: Financial Conflicts of Interest Among Oncologist Authors of Reports of Clinical Drug Trials (link to abstract and commentaries) AND “What These Medical Journals Don’t Reveal: Top Doctors’ Ties to Industry” (free commentary) AND Study: Assessment of Pharmaceutical Company and Device Manufacturer Payments to Gastroenterologists and Their Participation in Clinical Practice Guideline Panels (free)
Meta-Analysis: Reviewing Inhaler Technique for Older People with COPD Can Improve Disease Control
6 Feb, 2019 | 00:46h | UTCReviewing inhaler technique for older people with COPD can improve disease control – NIHR Signal (free)
Original Study: Inhaler Technique Education and Exacerbation Risk in Older Adults with Asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Meta‐Analysis – Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (free)
International Consensus Guidelines for the Optimal Use of the Polymyxins
4 Feb, 2019 | 23:45h | UTCInternational Consensus Guidelines for the Optimal Use of the Polymyxins – Pharmacotherapy (free)
Endorsed by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), International Society for Anti‐infective Pharmacology (ISAP), Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP).
JAMA Clinical Guidelines Synopsis: Management of Blood Cholesterol
4 Feb, 2019 | 23:53h | UTCGuideline Synopsis: Management of Blood Cholesterol – JAMA (free)
Editorial: A New Personalized, Patient-Centric, and Cost-Conscious Guideline for Contemporary Cholesterol Management (free)
Original Guideline: New AHA/ACC Guideline on the Management of Blood Cholesterol (free guideline and resources)
“Lorcaserin in Obesity: Minimal Benefits and Ill-Defined Harms”
4 Feb, 2019 | 22:16h | UTCEBM Verdict: Lorcaserin in obesity: minimal benefits and ill-defined harms – BMJ Evidence Based Medicine (free)
Cholesterol-Lowering Agents: PCSK9 Inhibitors Today and Tomorrow
4 Feb, 2019 | 22:19h | UTCCholesterol-Lowering Agents: PCSK9 Inhibitors Today and Tomorrow – Circulation Research (free for a limited period)
Review: Fetal Toxicity of Immunosuppressive Drugs in Pregnancy
3 Feb, 2019 | 16:53h | UTCFetal Toxicity of Immunosuppressive Drugs in Pregnancy – Journal of Clinical Medicine (free)
Perspective: The Unsung Role of the Pharmacist in Patient Health
3 Feb, 2019 | 16:42h | UTCThe Unsung Role of the Pharmacist in Patient Health – The New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
Related: Randomized Trial: Effect of a Pharmacist-Led Educational Intervention on Inappropriate Medication Prescriptions in Older Adults (link to abstract and video summary)
AGS 2019 Updated Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults
3 Feb, 2019 | 16:02h | UTCNews Release: For older people, medications are common; AGS Beers Criteria aims to make them appropriate, too (free)
Commentary: AGS: Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Med Use in Older Adults Updated – MPR (free)
Related Commentary on Twitter
The #AGSBeersCriteria includes lists of medications that may be inappropriate or unsafe for older adults. See the latest updates for 2019: https://t.co/qGB5Y1cD7S pic.twitter.com/ow0xds2gN7
— American Geriatrics Society (@AmerGeriatrics) February 1, 2019
Polypharmacy Guideline: Getting it Right for People Prescribed Many Medicines
3 Feb, 2019 | 15:53h | UTCPolypharmacy: Getting our medicines right – Royal Pharmaceutical Society (free)
Shorter Version: Polypharmacy (free)
Commentary: Pharmacists call for regular reviews of medicines – BBC (free)
Related: Reducing Inappropriate Medication Use & Polypharmacy (several articles and commentaries on the subject)
Meta-Analysis: Efficacy and Safety of Statin Therapy in Older People
3 Feb, 2019 | 15:43h | UTCCommentaries: Never too old for statin treatment? – The Lancet (free) AND Efficacy and safety of statin therapy in older people – expert comment – London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (free) AND Expert reaction to meta-analysis looking at statins and cardiovascular events in all ages – Science Media Centre (free) AND Statin therapy reduces cardiovascular disease risk in older people – University of Oxford (free) AND Statins Lower Risk for CV Events in Elders, But Benefits for Primary Prevention Still in Question – NEJM Journal Watch (free)
“However, when stratified by history of vascular disease, a significant benefit among those aged 71 and older was limited to those with prior vascular disease.” (from NEJM Journal Watch)
Systematic Review: Intermittent Iron Supplementation vs. Daily Supplementation for Preventing or Controlling Anemia
1 Feb, 2019 | 02:43h | UTCIntermittent iron supplementation for reducing anaemia and its associated impairments in adolescent and adult menstruating women – Cochrane Library (free)
Summary: Iron supplements taken one, two or three times a week for preventing anaemia, and its consequences in menstruating women – Cochrane Library (free)
“In comparison with daily supplementation, the provision of iron supplements intermittently is probably as effective in preventing or controlling anemia”
Report: Problems with Medicines Behind 250,000 Hospital Admissions Annually in Australia
1 Feb, 2019 | 02:46h | UTCPSA’s Medicine Safety: Take Care – Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (free PDF)
News Release: Problems with medicines behind 250,000 hospital admissions annually (free)
“The report reveals that 250,000 Australians are hospitalised each year, with another 400,000 presenting to emergency departments, as a result of medication errors, inappropriate use, misadventure and interactions. At least half of this could have been prevented.”
10 Myths About Frusemide
30 Jan, 2019 | 23:31h | UTC10 myths about frusemide – Intensive Care Medicine (free)
Note: if the above link is paywalled, try this one
Perspective: Are Probiotics Money Down the Toilet? Or Worse?
30 Jan, 2019 | 23:34h | UTCAre Probiotics Money Down the Toilet? Or Worse? – JAMA (free for a limited period)
Related: Randomized Trials: Probiotics Ineffective Against Gastroenteritis (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Perspective: The Problem with Probiotics (free commentaries) AND Probiotics: Does the Evidence Match the Hype? (link to abstract and commentaries) AND Systematic Review: Harms Reporting in Trials with Probiotics (link to abstract and commentaries)