Drug Topics - November 12, 2007 - (Page 16)

16 DRUG TOPICS NOVEMBER 12, 2007 www.drugtopics.com The Week at a Glance studies, the alpha receptor agonist/beta receptor inhibitor combination provided additional IOP lowering beyond that of either brimonidine or timolol administered alone. According to Allergan, Combigan will be available in the fourth quarter of 2007. nancy test within one week of initiating treatment with mycophenolate. In addition, the agency warns healthcare professionals that the drug can reduce blood levels of oral contraceptives and could therefore theoretically decrease their effectiveness. Reports of abnormalities leading to this change came from the U.S. National Transplantation Pregnancy Registry and other sources. Pharmacists are expanding their prescriptive power More pharmacists will wield their prescribing power in the years ahead. According to a new report from research firm Kalorama Information, drug purchase decisions made without the influence of a pharmacist will drop from the current 77% to 63% by 2012. By then, the drug revenues influenced by pharmacists are expected to grow to $145 billion, up from $77 billion in 2006. The report added that 43 states now allow pharmacists to initiate, modify, or discontinue drug therapy, and six more states may soon grant prescriptive authority to pharmacists. Young transplant patients often fail to take their medications A new Government Accountability Office report has found that kidney transplant failures are associated more with transitional patients than with their pediatric or adult counterparts. Transitional patients are defined as those younger than 18 years of age at the time of their transplant and at least 18 as of Dec. 31, 2004. Pediatric patients are defined as those younger than 18 as of Dec. 31, 2004. Adult patients are those 18 and over at the time of their transplant. The report also found that transitional patients’ higher failure rates are not due to an inability to access medications due to a lack of Medicare coverage. So why do some transplant recipients fail to comply with their immunosuppressive drug regimen? Besides adverse side effects from antirejection drugs, the report stated that adolescent recipients are especially prone to drug noncompliance because of dissatisfaction with body image and the physical side effects of medications. AHRQ offers R.Ph.s tools for low-literacy patients The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) announced two new tools to help pharmacies provide better quality services to people with limited health literacy. One tool, “Is Our Pharmacy Meeting Patients’ Needs? A Pharmacy Health Literacy Assessment Tool User’s Guide,” can be found at www.ahrq.gov/qual/pharmlit/. The second tool, “Strategies to Improve Communication Between Pharmacy Staff and Patients: A Training Program for Pharmacy Staff,” can be found at www.ahrq. gov/qual/pharmlit/pharmtrain.htm. For more information about AHRQ’s health literacy activities, visit www.ahrq.gov/browse/hlitix.htm. E-prescription initiative reduced drug interaction errors An analysis of e-prescribing records from the Southeast Michigan ePrescribing Initiative (SEMI) reveals that the program has significantly reduced the chance of drug interaction errors. According to the study of 3.3 million records, one-third of the prescriptions produced automated drug interaction alerts to physicians and 14% of prescriptions were changed or canceled by the prescribing doctor as a result. In addition, the analysis discovered that when a formulary alert was presented, physicians changed the prescription 39% of the time. SEMI is a coalition involving multiple health plans: CVS Caremark, Medco, as well as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and the United Auto Workers union. There are nearly 2,500 physician participants writing more than 282,000 electronic prescriptions each month in the program. Since the program began, SEMI has invested more than $1 million, with more than $500,000 directly going to participating physicians. Wednesday 10/31/07 Pregnancy category revised for CellCept The FDA has announced a change to the labeling of mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept, Roche) due to postmarketing reports of increased risk of both congenital malformations and first trimester pregnancy loss. In response, the FDA has changed the Pregnancy Category for the drug from Category C (risk of fetal harm cannot be ruled out) to Category D (positive evidence of fetal risk). Changes will be made to the Boxed Warning, Warnings, Precautions, and Adverse Reactions sections of the prescribing information. Women of childbearing potential should have a negative serum or urine preg- http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.kaloramainformation.com/pub/1492510.html http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/pharmlit/ http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1117 http://www.ahrq.gov/browse/hlitix.htm http://www.drugtopics.com/drugtopics/ Technology/Automakers-push-e-Rx-pilot-to-improve-safety/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/151433?searchString=semi%20michigan

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Drug Topics - November 12, 2007 Contents Drugs Often Associated with Errors Wanted: More Convers to Drug Decision Tools MSRA Takeoff Raising Alarm Bells U.S. Still Volnerable to Drug Counterfeiting Strange Rx Stories: Are You Stupid? Are Students a Squandered Opportunity The Week at a Glance

Drug Topics - November 12, 2007

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