From Drug Topics: FDA news, updates, and alerts affecting pharmacists and pharmacies
July 2, 2009
By:Alaina Scott, Senior Editor
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it is requiring manufacturers to put a boxed warning on the prescribing information for the smoking cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban.
 |
July 1, 2009
By:Pat daCosta, PharmD, RPh
When the subject of medication errors arises, confusion of drugs with similar names is a real hazard. On written prescriptions, one drug name may be misread as another, and with verbal orders, a drug name may be misheard. Pharmacies are seeking ways to deal with the challenge.
|
July 1, 2009
By:Martin Sipkoff
Controversy has surrounded the use of drug-eluting stents (DES) since their introduction as a tool of interventional cardiology in 2003. Studies released that year associated DES with increased risk of blood-clotting several years after implantation, and use declined. Since 2007, when the FDA concluded that DES could be appropriate therapy for some patients, intense scrutiny has produced little evidence that DES carry more risk than bare stents do.
|
June 3, 2009
By:Alaina Scott, Senior Editor
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) recently sent a letter to congressional leaders, reinforcing the association's ideas for provisions in upcoming comprehensive healthcare reform.
|
June 1, 2009
By:Scott Dallas, RPh, USPHS, Carol Holquist, RPh, USPHS
The FDA warns that insulin pens are meant to be used by one patient only. Patients should never share insulin pens, cartridges, or needles. Such sharing may result in transmission of blood-borne pathogens such as HBV, HCV, and HIV.
|
May 21, 2009
By:Alaina Scott, Senior Editor
In his March 14 weekly address, President Barack Obama announced the appointment of Dr. Margaret Hamburg as Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
|
May 6, 2009
By:Alaina Scott, Senior Editor
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced recently the approval of Creon (pancrelipase), a pancreatic enzyme replacement product designed to help patients with cystic fibrosis and others with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) digest and absorb nutrients from foods.
|
April 29, 2009
By:Alaina Scott, Senior Editor
The Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule today that requires manufacturers of over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers and fever reducers to revise their labeling to include warnings about potential safety risks, such as internal bleeding and liver damage, associated with the use of these popular drugs.
|
| 
| Drug Topics is a monthly news magazine, guided by a board of pharmacy leaders, reporting on all phases of community, retail, and health-system issues and trends. We cover managed care and professional, national, and state activities as well as new therapies involving prescription and OTC drugs.
|
ARCHIVES | RSS | E-NEWS | DIGITAL EDITION|
 | | | |
| What do you spend the most time counseling customers on? | | | OTC medications | | 58% | | | Painkillers | | 13% | | | Adverse drug reactions | | 20% | | | Other | | 9% | |
| |  | | | |
|
|
  Drug Topics archives are now available on ModernMedicine.com, a new online resource designed to meet the evolving needs of physicians.
Register now (it's free and quick) or Find out more.
Keep visiting Drug Topics for fresh content, news, opinions, editor's blogs and more.  | 
