USPharmacist.com > September 2011

Issue: September 2011 • 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 - Right of Conscience		Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Women: What Not to Use Some CVD therapies are not useful and are even potentially harmful.		Iodine Nutrition and the Impact of Dietary Sodium Reduction Iodine deficiency is a leading cause of preventable childhood brain damage and a serious public health problem.

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Editor's Notebook

No Shortage of Blame

Drug shortages have silently, but steadily, risen to critical levels.

Counseling Pearls

Overview of the Management of Osteoporosis in Women

The best way to treat the loss of bone density is to prevent its occurrence. Modification of risk factors is imperative, and pharmacists can play a large role in this area.

Managing Menorrhagia

With the wide range of effective hormonal and nonhormonal treatment options available on the market, health care professionals, including pharmacists, are in a position to successfully manage excessive menstrual bleeding.

It's the Law

Brand-Name and Generic Drugs Not Equivalent in Malpractice Claims

A recent Supreme Court ruling means that generic manufacturers cannot be held liable for inadequate warning labels.

Clinical Corner

Hysterectomy: What Is the Pharmacist’s Role?

Removal of the uterus is the second most frequent surgery among reproductive-age women. Most patients undergoing hysterectomy for benign conditions will experience relief of symptoms and a better quality of life following the procedure.

Pharmacologic Management of Preterm Labor and Prevention of Preterm Birth

The birth of an infant under 37 weeks’ gestation is a leading cause of neonatal mortality. The benefits of drug therapy for managing preterm labor and preventing preterm birth must be weighed against the risks associated with such treatment.

Consult Your Pharmacist

Behind-the-Counter Products: A Third Class of Drugs

As the name implies, these medications exist in a pharmaceutical limbo between OTC and prescription.

Educational Spotlight

Update on Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV

Recent changes to the treatment guidelines for these disorders are reviewed in detail.

Diagnosis and Treatment Options in Acute Bronchitis

Symptomatic treatment of cough is the primary need in patients since the infection is likely viral in nature.

Dialysis Concepts: A Review for Clinical Pharmacists

Renal replacement therapy affects the activity and dosing of many drugs.

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Newswire

OTC Asthma Inhalers With CFCs Being Phased Out
Gaithersburg, MD — The FDA has announced that OTC epinephrine inhalers containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) cannot be made or sold after December 31, 2011. Primatene Mist, marketed by Armstrong Pharmaceutical Inc., is the only nonprescription inhaler that uses CFCs as a propellant. This action is being taken to comply with an international agreement to phase out substances, such as CFCs, that deplete the ozone layer. Many manufacturers have already replaced their CFC inhalers with hydrofluoroalkane (HFA), an environmentally-friendly propellant. Current users of Primatene Mist should plan to get a prescription for a replacement product to relieve their asthma symptoms. The product carries a prominent notice about the phase-out date on its label.

Thrice-Weekly Dialysis May Be Insufficient
Minneapolis, MN — A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and funded by the National Institutes of Health has found that three-times-a-week dialysis may not be enough. Researchers at the University of Minnesota analyzed medical records of 32,000 people who had in-center dialysis three times a week from 2005 through 2008. They found a 22% higher risk of death on the day after a long break compared with other days of the week, and hospital admissions for stroke and heart-related problems more than doubled on the day after a long break. The three-day dialysis schedule (usually Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays or Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays) has been used since the mid-1960s and gives patients a weekend break from treatment.

Pediatric Accidental Ingestions on the Rise
Cincinnati, OH — According to a new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study, the number of young children seen in emergency departments or admitted to hospitals because they unintentionally took a potentially toxic dose of medication has risen dramatically in recent years. Researchers reviewed records of 453,559 children in the National Poison Data System from 2001 to 2008 and found that exposure to prescription drugs accounted for the majority of emergency room visits (55%), admissions (76%), and significant harm (71%). Ingestion levels of opioids, sedatives-hypnotics, and cardiovascular medications were particularly high. In response to this alarming trend, the CDC has established the PROTECT Initiative, whose mission is to prevent unintended medication overdoses in children.