Clinical News

Oseltamivir, an antiviral agent for the treatment of influenza, should be started within 48 hours of symptom onset for most hospitalized patients and outpatients who are suspected of H1N1 or other strains of the flu, according to a recent report in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

A skin patch that may end up replacing needle sticks is being tested at U.C. San Diego.

FDA is seeking to learn how these Wallcur products, which are not sterile and should not be injected in humans or animals, entered the supply chain.

Topical treatment with vitamin D analogs and corticosteroids is the mainstay of first-line therapy for patients with localized psoriasis.

A Danish study of 150,900 patients found that the risk of serious bleeding doubled when patients were treated with NSAIDs.

What is it like to care for patients with Ebola? Clinical pharmacists share what they’ve learned.

The factor Xa inhibitor edoxaban (Savaysa, Daiichi Sankyo) has been approved by FDA to lower the risk of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), according to a January 8 announcement.

Health system implements on-site specialty pharmacy, connects it with healthcare team members through EMR; clinical pharmacist gets out from under a mountain of paperwork; everybody wins.

An error in the package insert and clinical guidelines may contribute to the high rates of patient harm associated with methadone.

An opioid analgesic with an abuse deterrent,Targiniq can deter but not entirely prevent abuse when snorted or injected.

A 2.3-million-patient study found that preoperative sepsis is a noteworthy risk factor for both arterial and venous thrombosis.

After an MS patient died, FDA called for a description of the case to be added to the labeling for dimethyl fumarate.

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) recently approved funding for up to four large studies comparing different approaches to treating hepatitis C. The institute also approved funding for phase II of National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet).

An FDA advisory panel has called for a contraindication for certain injectable corticosteroid formulations for epidural use.

The results of the 9-year IMPROVE-IT trial are in, and the combo performed better than statin mono therapy in key measures.

Dalbavancin treats acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections caused by susceptible strains of Gram-positive organisms.

A summary of drug-drug interactions and adverse drug reactions connected with metronidazole, a drug widely used in medical and dental practices to counter anaerobic bacteria, amoebae, and parasitic infections.

Historically, unfractionated heparin (UFH) with a vitamin K antagonist has been the standard treatment for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism. More recently, low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) combined with vitamin K antagonists has become the most common choice, but newer target-specific oral anticoagulants have widened the range of treatment options.

Improved pain management. Reduced opioid dependency. Sounds great for chronic pain patients. So why is it a pain to everyone else?

Excellent anticoagulation management appears to lower the risk of dementia over the long term in AF patients.

Adults can protect themselves against flu with a needle-free option. There's a benefit for vaccine administrators too - no needle sticks.

Vorapaxar, an antiplatelet, is a first-in-class antagonist on the protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1).

Patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who received pertuzumab (Perjeta, Roche) as part of their chemotherapy regimen had a significantly longer median survival rate-by almost 16 months-compared with those who only received the trastuzumab/docetaxel regimen, according to a presentation during the 2014 Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology in Spain.

FDA has approved two new HIV-1 cocktail drugs: elvitegravir (Vitekta, Gilead), an integrase inhibitor and cobicistat (Tybost, Gilead), a protease-inhibitor booster.

FDA approved tiotropium bromide (Spiriva Respimat, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals) inhalation spray for the long-term, once-daily maintenance treatment of bronchospasm associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to reduce exacerbations in patients with COPD.

President Obama recently signed an executive order establishing a taskforce charged with creating a strategy to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

FDA has approved dulaglutide (Trulicity, Eli Lilly) to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. The drug is a once-weekly subcutaneous injection used to improve glycemic control and is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise in the management of type 2 diabetes in adults.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and FDA undertook a study to determine the most commonly implicated active ingredients responsible for childhood poisonings that required emergency hospitalization in the hope of identifying prevention and intervention strategies. Buprenorphine and clonidine were the most common of 12 active ingredients that were found in 45.0% of these hospitalizations.

An advisory committee to the FDA voted 14 to 1 to approve liraglutide for injection for chronic weight management in some obese patients.