News

Drinking large amounts of coffee may be bad for under-55s, according to a recent study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Pharmacists in Canada were recently given broader responsibilities including, in certain provinces, prescribing privileges, vaccination abilities, and the ability to order and interpret laboratory tests. This newly expanded role for Canadian pharmacists can benefit both patients and physicians, according to an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Drug evaluation and selection models are changing. Safety and efficacy have become the starting point for consideration by many payers. What they really want to see is evidence of superior performance in real world patient populations.

According to FDA, the risk of peripheral neuropathy occurs only with fluoroquinolones that are taken by mouth or by injection.

The majority of antibiotics prescribed for adults in ambulatory care settings are broad-spectrum agents, most commonly fluoroquinolones and macrolides. These are frequently prescribed for conditions where no antibiotic therapy is needed at all, such as for bronchitis and colds, which are caused by viruses, according to a study published online July 25, 2013, in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

Alabama has targeted so-called “doctor shopping” and Rx diversion with three bills designed to stop such lawbreakers.

Despite last season’s flu outbreak, less than half the people surveyed (46%) by CVS/pharmacy said they were more likely to get a flu shot this year.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers, who come together voluntarily to give coordinated high quality care to the patients they serve. Coordinated care helps ensure that patients, especially the chronically ill, get the right care at the right time, with the goal of avoiding unnecessary duplication of services and preventing medical errors. When an ACO succeeds in both delivering high-quality care and spending healthcare dollars more wisely, it will share in the savings it achieves for the Medicare program.1 The overall goal of the ACO is to reduce costs by focusing on preventative care and disease management.

New skills, new tools and better care.

Forty hospitals report 3,500 deaths avoided and improvements in four significant measures, including early elective deliveries

The American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) Study recommends new options for those with cardiovascular event histories who also need migraine treatment

Results from a health economic and outcomes research (HECOR) simulation analysis show that canagliflozin (Invokana, Janssen), along with lifestyle management, may reduce long-term complications and associated costs for adult patients with type 2 diabetes compared to a treatment sequence without canagliflozin.

In July of 2012, a provision in the newly ratified Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), paved the way for the FDA to further assist drug manufacturers in expediting the development and introduction of new drugs demonstrating early signs of advancement in the treatment of key conditions. Known as the “breakthrough therapy” designation, this new tool is seen by many as yet another positive sign that the FDA is committed to ensuring that innovative drug products are brought to market even more quickly for the millions of patients with serious medical conditions, desperately in need of new therapeutic options.

Delays in treatment and medication non-adherence are the major reasons behind avoidable costs in the healthcare system, according to a new study released this week.

It is well known that type 2 diabetes mellitus is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. A recent epidemiologic study conducted in the United Kingdom assessed the time to first major cardiovascular event in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in a large real-world population.

Typically, basal insulin is chosen as the add-on treatment in patients with severe hyperglycemia. However, it has been questioned whether it is the best option, according to research presented in June at American Diabetes Association 73rd Scientific Sessions, in Chicago.

Many patients suffer from both hypertension and high cholesterol, putting them at greater risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Controlling the hypertension and high cholesterol would reduce CHD risk by 50% or more, but less than a third of patients have achieved adequate control of both, according to an online study in Circulation.

When metformin cannot maintain glycemic control, sulfonylureas are often used as add-on therapy in type 2 diabetes; however, risks include weight gain and hypoglycemia. Dapagliflozin is an SGLT2 inhibitor and increases urinary glucose excretion and reduces hyperglycemia independently of insulin secretion or action.

An international study has found that dapagliflozin has sustained metabolic benefits compared with glipizide. Benefits included stable weight loss and low rates of hypoglycemia. Additionally, therapy was well-tolerated by patients.

In patients with type 2 diabetes, treatment with exenatide has shown beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk factors. A recent study used the GE Healthcare database to evaluate the risk of heart failure, myocardial infarction, and stroke in 2,795 patients taking exenatide twice daily and in 51,547 patients taking insulin in routine clinical practice.

The US healthcare system could avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in medical costs if medication adherence rates improved, according to a CVS Caremark report.

Almost 5 million Americans with episodic migraine (EM) should not be prescribed a triptan, the only class of acute medications FDA approved and developed for migraine, because of the presence of cardiovascular contraindications, according to results from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention (AMPP) Study.

A recent international, open-label, randomized, controlled study of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus compared once-weekly exenatide to titrated insulin glargine.

Dapagliflozin produces larger reductions in HbA1c in individuals who have higher baseline levels.

The new update to the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guideline on the pharmacologic interventions for breast cancer risk reduction now lists aromatase inhibitor exemestane (Aromasin, Pfizer) as an option for postmenopausal women for primary risk reduction that are at an increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer.

Estimates of the cost of fraud in the Medicare system range broadly from $17 billion to $90 billion. However, there are no estimates of-or methods to detect-how much of the wasted money is attributable to old-fashioned human error rather than blatant crime.

Complete response, priority review, fast track

Blood pressure (BP) response to changes in dietary sodium and potassium is reproducible over the long term and may help identify potential candidates at risk for hypertension and cardiovascular disease, according to a study published in the journal Hypertension.