Pharma
Kapvay (clonidine hydrochloride)
Underwriting Quick Notes
Kapvay = brand name
Shionogi = manufacturer
Memantine for PDD or DLB
Underwriting Quick Notes:
- PDD = Parkinson’s Disease Dementia
- DLB = Dementia with Lewy Bodies
- Memantine = Namenda
Memantine seems to improve global clinical status and behavioural symptoms of patients with mild to moderate DLB, and might be an option for treatment of these patients.
Krystexxa (pegloticase)
Medical News: FDA Approves New Gout Drug – in Product Alert, Prescriptions from MedPage Today
Say that five times fast.
Tygacil (tigecycline) – Increased Mortality Risk
This will cure the infection…permanently.
Liver Enzymes and Statins
I stumbled across this article while evaluating a persistent CPK elevation in an applicant with HLD and other CHD risk factors.
Risks and Benefits of ARBs and ACEis
There are three links in this article to the original comparative effectiveness review, a clinician guide, and a consumer guide.
Good training stuff for your newbies.
Scary Chart of the Day – 08.19.10
Pretty ugly looking trend
From 1999 to 2007, the number of U.S. poisoning deaths involving any opioid analgesic (e.g., oxycodone, methadone, or hydrocodone) more than tripled, from 4,041 to 14,459, or 36% of the 40,059 total poisoning deaths in 2007. In 1999, opioid analgesics were involved in 20% of the 19,741 poisoning deaths. During 1999–2007, the number of poisoning deaths involving specified drugs other than opioid analgesics increased from 9,262 to 12,790, and the number involving nonspecified drugs increased from 3,608 to 8,947.
Arava (leflunomide) – Watch Those Liver Enzymes
The FDA has expanded the black box warning to the label of the rheumatoid arthritis drug leflunomide (Arava) to include possible fatal liver damage.
The agency received 49 adverse event reports — including instances of jaundice, coagulopathy, encephalopathy, and 14 fatalities — about the drug from August 2002 to May 2009. Of the patients reporting adverse events, 36 were hospitalized.
Metformin May Lower Mortality in T2DM Patients
Medical News: ADA: Mortality Lower with Metformin – in Meeting Coverage, ADA from MedPage Today
A large, multicenter trial found a 24% reduced risk of all-cause mortality among patients on the drug, compared with those not taking it, according to Ronan Roussel, MD, PhD, of Groupe Hospitalier Bichat-Claude Bernard in Paris, and colleagues.
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