USPharmacist.com > August 2009

Issue: August 2009 • Archive

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In This Edition		Featured Article		Featured CE
• Editor's Notebook • Counseling Pearls • It's the Law • Clinical Corner • Consult Your Pharmacist • Educational Spotlight • Quick Poll		Alcohol-Induced Pancreatitis A multidisciplinary treatment approach benefits those with this complicated disorder.		An Update on the Current Treatment of HIV The combining of drugs from the six different medication classes used to treat this disease holds promise for many patients.

Editor's Notebook

Technology Is a Double-Edged Sword

While there is no question that technology has reshaped the profession of pharmacy on many levels, pharmacists are sometimes challenged by the overload of information.

Counseling Pearls

Pharmacists' Role in Preventing Vaccine-Preventable Diseases

Immunization rates for these types of diseases remain suboptimal. Pharmacists should take an active role in promoting immunization practices and educating the public.

Solutions to Male Infertility

The inability to conceive involves a male factor in at least half of all cases. Many of the causes of this condition can be treated surgically and/or medically.

It's the Law

The Price of Living: End-of-Life Costs

Providing treatment during a patient's last 6 months of life is expensive; should the U.S. adopt a health care rationing policy?

Clinical Corner

A Review of Testicular Cancer

Because this disease is highly curable, the prevention and management of acute and long-term toxicities is essential.

The Management of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Patients with this progressive, fatal neurologic disorder may need more drug therapy for symptom management than is required for most other diseases.

Consult Your Pharmacist

Recent Developments in Birth Control and STD Prevention for Men

Polyisoprene condoms are as effective as those made from latex or polyurethane.

Educational Spotlight

Treatment Options in Acute Lung Injury and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome

These pulmonary conditions are a leading cause of respiratory failure in hospitalized intensive-care patients requiring mechanical ventilation.

Urinalysis: A Guide for Pharmacists

Knowledge of urine testing allows pharmacists to do in-pharmacy testing, counsel patients based on results, and work with other health professionals to improve patient treatment.

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Newswire

U.S. Life Expectancy and Death Rates Break Records
Atlanta, GA — According to mortality statistics recently published by the CDC, life expectancy reached a record high of nearly 78 years and the age-adjusted death rate dropped to a record low of 760.3 deaths per 100,000 Americans. Record life expectancy was reported for both males and females (75.3 years and 80.4 years, respectively); for the first time, life expectancy for black males reached 70 years. Heart disease and cancer accounted for nearly half (48.5%) of all deaths in 2007; the death rate for the fourth leading cause of death, chronic lower respiratory diseases, increased by 1.7%.

Trials of H1N1 Vaccines Begin in Children
Bethesda, MD —The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced that an independent safety-monitoring committee has recommended that trials of a candidate 2009 H1N1 vaccine begin in children. Vaccinations will begin in two trials being conducted through NIAID's nationwide network of Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units (VTEU). The monitoring committee reviewed data from more than 500 healthy adult volunteers enrolled in three VTEU trials of candidate H1N1 vaccines that began on August 7, 2009.

Mylan Files Lawsuit Against Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh, PA — Mylan Inc. and its subsidiary, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., have filed a civil lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County, West Virginia, against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette following a series of articles the newspaper published that the company believes are "sensational and misleading" and "based on improperly obtained and misconstrued confidential internal documents." Mylan maintains that the articles "mischaracterized a minor deviation from an internal Mylan procedure, creating the false appearance of significant quality and regulatory issues at the company's Morgantown, W.Va. plant when no such issues existed."

FDA Advises Against Tablet-Splitting
Silver Spring, MD — The FDA, the American Medical Association, and other medical organizations are advising patients against splitting tablets unless it is specified in the drug's labeling. According to the FDA, the practice of splitting tablets can be "risky." There is concern that a patient may get confused about the correct dose; equal distribution of medicine in split tablets is questionable; and some tablets are hard to split (due to small size or unusual shape). The FDA further warns that not all pills, such as capsules, time-release drugs, and drugs with a special coating, are safe to split.