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Deaths associated with opioid use have been on the rise in Washington State. In Seattle and surrounding King County, for example, opioid-related deaths increased by 40% between 2003 and 2004, according to Caleb Banta-Green, MPH, MSW, a research scientist for the Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington. Banta-Green reported that the increase in opioid-related deaths coincided with an increased rate of opioid prescriptions for the treatment of chronic pain.

In a unanimous vote, a Food & Drug Administration advisory group has recommended modifying antidepressant labels to include new information on the risk of suicidality in young adults.

No longer just for drinking, green tea is now part of an ointment used for the topical treatment of genital warts. The Food & Drug Administration recently approved the new therapy for both external genital and perianal warts (Condylomata acuminata) in immunocompetent patients 18 years of age and older. Called Veregen, the Rx botanical was developed by German company MediGene. It contains 15% kunecatechins, a defined green tea extract.

Until now, pharmacy faculty authoring continuing education programs had only to disclose if they had any conflicts of interest to program participants. However, under new standards the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) is planning to implement this year, CE authors will also have to resolve any conflicts in order for their programs to pass muster. Conflicts can be resolved by requiring the CE content to be reviewed by a committee beforehand or presenting both pro and con sides to any given debate.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently selected 11 national organizations to accredit suppliers of DMEPOS (durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies) under Medicare Part B.

This past April, methylphenidate (Daytrana, Shire) was approved as a transdermal drug delivery system (TD-DDS) for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. And many more patches are on the horizon. Novartis is seeking Food & Drug Administration approval for its rivastigmine (Exelon) patch to aid in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers in the United Kingdom are working on a TD-DDS to deliver synthetic cannabinoids for use as antiemetics and appetite stimulants in patients with AIDS and cancer.

An expert panel convened by the Alzheimer?s Drug Discovery Foundation recently released consensus recommendations on the treatment of Alzheimer?s disease and related dementias (ADRD) in managed care. The guidelines were published as a supplement to the American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, every 31 seconds a limited-English speaker enters the United States. For the approximately 48 million residents who speak a language other than English at home, that language barrier looms large when they visit an emergency room or are admitted to a hospital.

When three infants died in September after receiving an adult dose of heparin at an Indianapolis hospital, patient safety experts pointed to the absence of bedside bar-coding-a technology they claim could have prevented the tragedy.

Disposing of hazardous pharmaceutical waste is nothing new for hospitals. However, the task has become more challenging in recent years due in part to a greater variety of toxic drugs that are being discarded.

As propofol utilization increases, so do the safety risks of fast-acting anesthesia. Readily adaptable oversight procedures for propofol management by clinical pharmacists have led to the awarding of medication safety awards to two hospitals by the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council in Philadelphia (DVHC).

Recognizing that health systems are failing to success-fully manage inpatient diabetes, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) joined forces recently to implement the inpatient diabetes certification of distinction program.

The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) recently launched a free Web-based tutorial to educate those with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) about the proper use of their inhaled medications.

Ortho-McNeil Neurologics (OMN) has launched a campaign to warn pharmacists about prescribing and dispensing errors. The campaign centers around two OMN drugs, topiramate (Topamax) and galantamine (Razadyne and Razadyne ER).

A 59-year-old Caucasian woman, D.P., is seen regularly in your hospital's diabetes clinic. Daily medications include glipizide ER (Glucotrol XL, Pfizer) 10 mg, pioglitazone (Actos, Takeda) 45 mg, metformin ER (Glucophage XR, Bristol-Myers Squibb) 500 mg, citalopram 40 mg, ezetimibe/simvastatin (Vytorin 10/80, Merck/Schering-Plough), aspirin 81 mg, lisinopril 40 mg. Glycemic control appears good (A1c=7.0), but she has gained >40 lb. in four years (BMI=33). Despite a Jenny Craig diet (1,200 calorie/day) for six months, plus three weekly sessions with a personal trainer, she has lost only 2 lb. D.P. saw a blog claiming pioglitazone causes weight gain-she believes that is her problem. Her physician asks your opinion. What do you say?

Recent news reports linking methadone with a number of casualties, including that of the actress Anna Nicole Smith's son, have fostered the idea that the substance is a "killer" or dangerous drug of abuse. This is a bit paradoxical since methadone has been successfully used in heroin detoxification programs for decades.

The 2007 pipeline promises novel therapeutic classes for some diseases but no new drugs in others

The recent news that CVS and pharmacy benefit manager Caremark Rx are hooking up (Drug Topics, Nov. 20) didn't come as a surprise to pharmacy insiders. What does the industry think of the $21 billion agreement?

Drugstore customers who are rewards program members are more likely to have spent more money in the past six months than those not involved in a rewards program, according to a new on-line survey conducted by Maritz Research for Maritz Loyalty Marketing.

Rising gasoline prices have drained consumers' wallets this year. The housing market is losing steam. The war in Iraq is dragging on. Still, chains and independents are optimistic that consumers will fill Santa's sleigh with gifts plucked from their shelves. The National Retail Federation's (NRF) annual Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey offers plenty of reasons for retailers to celebrate.

Are you liable for technician mistakes?

Pharmacists hope a new Congress will roll back reimbursement cutbacks that were originally slated

Medicare Part D is still not for wimps, be they health professionals or consumers, any more than it was in early 2006, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) analyst. Indeed, there is high risk that many beneficiaries are getting into plans, both for 2006 and 2007, that are not good for covering their medications and there could be health consequences, said Patricia Neuman, Sc.D., director of the foundation's Medicare Policy Project.

Q: Medicare Part D patients are often unprepared for the realities of the new drug plan. If a dual-eligible patient can't cover his co-pay, should the pharmacist send the patient home without the drug?

Previous columns examined the Medicare decisions that plans faced for 2007 and the choices available to enrollees. Pharmacists, too, will be facing some plan adjustments as the new year begins. In some cases pharmacy providers must sign and return a contract to continue their participation in pharmacy networks associated with the plans. Many pharmacies work with a third-party contracting organization that will sign the agreement on their behalf. Although many existing contracts expire on Dec. 31, 2006, CMS is encouraging plans to adopt automatic renewals, or evergreen contracts, for subsequent years.

Our current system is not working and needs reform was the take-away message from a three-hour workshop examining both Medicare Part D and the future of drug pricing. Held at the American Public Health Association's 134th Annual Meeting, which convened in Boston in November, the workshop included speakers discussing the various issues surrounding the drug benefit and potential methods for reform.