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The great opioid debate: PROP, PROMPT square off
Pharmacy Practice News
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Should the reins be tightened on the use of long-term opioid therapy for patients with chronic noncancer pain? That question is at the heart of a controversy that has boiled over since July when 37 physicians in pain management, public health, psychiatry and other specialties issued a citizen petition calling on the FDA to require opioid label changes that would strike the word "moderate" from CNCP opioid treatment indications and limit the drug's use solely to severe pain — and then only for a maximum of 90 days at no more than the equivalent of 100 mg of morphine daily.
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Arizona Board of Pharmacy's Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program update
AzPA
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Arizona Board of Pharmacy's Controlled Substances Prescription Monitoring Program has been collecting data from dispensers of Schedule II, III and IV controlled substance prescriptions since October 2008. The CSPMP database has been available for use by medical practitioners and pharmacists since December 2008. Medical practitioners who are registered with the CSPMP as required by law may request access to the CSPMP database to look up their patient's prescription information to treat or evaluate their patient. Pharmacists who are licensed may also request access.
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Join the APAP initiative today
AzPA
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Over 850 cases of pertussis were reported in Arizona in 2011. There have already been over 750 cases reported along with one infant death so far in 2012. All healthcare personnel and staff are asked to get immunized against pertussis to decrease the spread of this contagious disease. Please join the Arizona Pharmacy Association and Arizona Partners Against Pertussis in a statewide campaign to reduce pertussis exposure to patients. Your support of this initiative is crucial.
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Designed to reduce the chance of medication errors. An easy to use multidose compliance package, available in both cold seal and heat seal formats, it helps your clients maintain their independence and take their multiple medications accurately!
For more information on Pill Pak or our other medication compliance products, visit www.crocusmed.com or contact
Diane LaTourelle: dlatourelle@crocusmed.com
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Holiday shopping is upon us
AzPA
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Remember to purchase your gift cards through AzPA and support pharmacy education in Arizona. Learn more.
Not an AzPA member? Join today
AzPA
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Not an AzPA member? Join the only statewide association representing all pharmacy professionals in all pharmacy practice settings. With over 1,500 members, we are a leading association of pharmacists spreading the news and events of our industry.
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Shop Amazon.com and support AzPA
AzPA
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The next time you shop on Amazon.com, visit the AzPA website first and click on the portal on the home page. When you enter through the AzPA website, a portion of your total purchases will come back to AzPA. Bookmark this link.
Antibiotic stewardship program lowers improper prescribing
Medscape News (free subscription)
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An intervention that combined clinician education with audit and feedback improved adherence to guidelines for antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections by community-based primary care pediatricians, according to a new study. Although antibiotic stewardship programs are generally recommended for hospitals, most antibiotic use and misuse occurs in the outpatient setting, explained Jeffrey Gerber, from the Center for Pediatric Clinical Effectiveness at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. More than 40 million outpatient prescriptions are written every year for children with ARTIs, and half of these are for broad-spectrum antibiotics, he added.
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Massachusetts pharmacy board head fired after meningitis outbreak
Reuters via Fox News
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Authorities fired the director of the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy after he failed to investigate a complaint against New England Compounding Center, the company at the center of a deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak, state officials recently said. Massachusetts officials said they uncovered a complaint against NECC by Colorado pharmacy regulators just months before the outbreak. The complaint, which said NECC was distributing drugs without patient-specific prescriptions, was forwarded on July 26 to James Coffey, director of the Massachusetts pharmacy board.
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Healthier Brain • Sharper Mind • Protect Memories
As we age we lose calcium-binding proteins that protect our brain cells. This protein loss affects our ability to learn, retain memories, think and concentrate.* Prevagen® (apoaequorin) replaces these proteins in the body and helps protect our cells during this natural process of aging.* Over the counter, visit: http://prevagen.com/pharmacists/
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Important benefits of Stem Cell 100™
Powerful anti-aging properties
Provides immune support
Promotes younger looking skin
Supports cardiovascular health
Renews health and vitality
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Noveon AA-1 Polycarbophil, USP is a high molecular weight acrylic acid polymer crosslinked with divinyl glycol. It provides excellent bioadhesive properties and has been used extensively to enhance the delivery of active ingredients to various mucous membranes.
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Daily multivitamin use produces modest cancer reduction
Pharmacy Times
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Daily multivitamin use produced significant, although modest, reduction in cancer among men over more than a decade of follow-up, according to the results of a trial published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The researchers conducted a large-scale, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 14,641 male physicians aged 50 years and older who were enrolled beginning in 1997 with treatment and follow-up through June 1, 2011. The participants had a mean age of 64.3 years and included 1,312 men with a history of cancer at randomization. Participants were randomized to take either a daily multivitamin or placebo.
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Statins cut mortality in cancer patients
Medscape News (free subscription)
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Statin use in cancer patients can reduce disease-related mortality by up to 15 percent, according to a large Danish population study. The researchers looked at 13 types of cancer. They found that cancer-specific mortality was lower in patients who used statins than in those who did not. For death from any cause among those who used statins, compared with those who did not, the hazard ratio was 0.85; for death from cancer, it was 0.85.
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Medtronic warns against unapproved medications in intrathecal pumps
American Society of Health-System Pharmacists
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Minneapolis-based Medtronic Inc. wants pharmacists and physicians to know that using the Synchromed implantable infusion pump system to deliver drugs that are not specifically approved for the device can result in pump failure and serious adverse events. According a professional letter and related documentation, the only medications compatible with the pump are Lioresal intrathecal baclofen injection, Gablofen intrathecal baclofen injection, Infumorph intrathecal morphine sulfate injection, and Prialt intrathecal ziconotide solution. Also approved are intravascularly administered floxuridine and methotrexate solutions.
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Data mining can improve opioid safety
Pharmacy Practice News
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Too many opioid-related medication errors fly under the radar of voluntary reporting systems, so pharmacists need to mine other hospital data sources for a truer picture of opioid safety risks in their organizations, according to Dr. Matthew Fricker, program director at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. Opioid errors often lie hidden in these data, he suggested. Speaking during a recent ISMP webinar panel discussion, Fricker listed several often-overlooked information sources that could help heighten hospital-wide awareness of opioid misadventures and prompt a more rigorous push for safer practices.
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Attacking ailments with small doses
The New York Times
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Disappointed voters, runners with blisters and headache sufferers alike are getting some unexpected relief from a pop-up pharmacy that recently opened in the nation's capital. The "help shop," which offers low-dose drugs for everyday woes, is the idea of Help Remedies, a startup company that sells minimalist white packets directed at single medical issues like nausea, headache or insomnia.
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FDA approves new arthritis drug
Fox News
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U.S. regulators recently approved Pfizer Inc's Xeljanz treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, one of the company's most potentially lucrative experimental drugs, which is now poised to compete with Abbott Laboratories Inc's top-selling Humira. The Food and Drug Administration said it had approved Pfizer's pill for patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis who have not benefited from or been able to tolerate the standard oral treatment, methotrexate. Xeljanz can be used by itself or in combination with methotrexate and certain other standard treatments.
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FDA panel wary on making bladder control drug OTC
Medpage Today
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An FDA advisory panel recently voted against recommending making oxybutynin transdermal patch available over-the-counter for overactive bladder in women, citing a bevy of concerns about using the product without a doctor's oversight. In their 5-6 vote, panelists on the FDA's Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee were concerned women would use Oxytrol thinking they had OAB when they really had some other ailment that needed a physician's treatment. They also were concerned about men using the product off-label.
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