Researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are one of 18 clinical research centers taking part in a national study to establish guidelines for safely stepping down treatment in patients whose asthma is well controlled.
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This season's flu vaccine has reduced the risk of influenza-associated medical visits by 61% across all age groups, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thus far it appears to be outperforming its predecessor from 2012-2013, which had an effectiveness rate of 51%.
Forest Laboratories plans to discontinue the sale of memantine HCl (Namenda) 5-mg and 10-mg tablets effective August 15, 2014. Forest has notified FDA of this decision.
A coalition of doctors, addiction experts, and law enforcement officials are urging FDA to revoke approval of the powerful opioid Zohydro ER (hydrocodone bitartrate) extended-release capsules, which reportedly will contain 10 times more hydrocodone than Vicodin
Blood pressure medications used by many older adults can increase the risk of serious fall injuries by 30% to 40%-injuries that have a similar effect on mortality and functional loss as the strokes and heart attacks the antihypertensive drugs are meant to prevent-according to a study in the Feb. 24 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.
In an attempt to determine which patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are at high risk for serious adverse events upon presentation to the emergency department, Canadian researchers identified 10 clinical characteristics and developed a preliminary risk scale to help standardize the admission practices of these patients.
The tide has turned against the use of azithromycin, a commonly prescribed antibiotic for common infections since the early 1990s, because of the risk of antimicrobial resistance.
FDA approved metreleptin for injection (Myalept, Amylin Pharmaceuticals) as replacement therapy to treat the complications of leptin deficiency, in addition to diet, in patients with congenital generalized or acquired generalized lipodystrophy.
Patients with severe injuries initially evaluated at non-trauma center emergency departments are less likely to be transferred to a trauma center if they have insurance, according to study published online ahead of print in JAMA Surgery.
More than 30% of Medicare Part D beneficiaries who receive opioid prescriptions are prescribed them from multiple providers, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. This practice, which goes against recommended guidelines of a single provider prescribing opioids for a patient, was found to be associated with higher rates of opioid-related hospitalization.
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Medicare is considering discontinuing coverage of circulating tumor cell (CTC) assays for beneficiaries across West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
FDA plans to work closely with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to ensure the safety of medicines, according to a Feb. 19 announcement.
FDA approved droxidopa (Northera, Chelsea Therapeutics) capsules for the treatment of neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (NOH).
Actavis plans to purchase Forest Laboratories for approximately $25 billion in a cash and equity deal, creating a combination of “two of the world’s fastest growing specialty pharmaceutical companies, with combined annual revenues of more than $15 billion in 2015,” according to a Feb. 18 announcement.
Pharmacy as a profession dropped a few notches to fifth place in the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings for all jobs and placed third on the list of best healthcare jobs, behind nurse practitioner and dentist. It had placed third as the best profession overall last year.
Boehringer Ingelheim is facing lawsuits in the United States over claims that dabigatran etexilate mesylate (Pradaxa) capsules, a blood-thinner used to reduce the risk of stroke and blood clots in people with atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, causes severe and fatal bleeding.
More than 14% of pregnant women were prescribed opioids for pain at some time during their pregnancy, according to a study published online in Anesthesiology.
Michigan will be the first state to standardize concentrations for children’s liquid prescriptions, due to a statewide initiative to reduce pediatric medication errors.
Nearly 12% of Medicare patients who receive inpatient rehabilitation following discharge from acute-care hospitalization are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days after discharge from the rehabilitation facility, according to a study in the Feb. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A bipartisan bill, recently introduced in the House of Representatives, would help to combat the abuse of over-the-counter cough medicine among teenagers.
Combination therapy with a lower-intensity statin and bile acid sequestrant or ezetimibe lowered LDL cholesterol similar to or better than higher-intensity statin monotherapy among patients with high risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), according to a study published February 11 online in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Taking low-dose aspirin regularly can reduce the risk of ovarian cancer, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute. However, more research is needed before any recommendations are instituted.
FDA expanded the approved use of ibrutinib (Imbruvica, Pharmacyclics and Janssen Biotech) as a single-agent, oral kinase inhibitor for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who have received at least 1 previous therapy.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), FDA, 10 biopharmaceutical companies, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, and several nonprofit organizations have launched an unprecedented public/private partnership to “transform the current model for developing new diagnostics and treatments by jointly identifying and validating promising biological targets of disease,” announced a recent statement from the NIH.
Riociguat (Adempas, Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals Inc.) was approved by FDA on October 8, 2013 for two patient groups. It is intended for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) World Health Organization (WHO) group 1 to improve exercise capacity, improve WHO functional class, and delay clinical worsening. It is also approved for patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) WHO Group IV who have inoperable or persistent/recurrent postoperative chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), with the intent of improving exercise capacity and WHO functional class.
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