Drug Formulary Review articles from April 2004

Drug Formulary Review archives from April 2004

International societies release historic guidelines for treating sepsis: goal is to reduce mortality rate by 25% in five years.
April 1, 2004... An international group of critical care professionals has developed the first evidence-based recommendations ever to address the treatment of patients with sepsis. "There is now a gold standard of care for the management of sepsis," says...

Systematic approach taken in evaluating sepsis drug: focus on disease state, not drug management.
April 1, 2004... After the results of the Recombinant Human Activated Protein C Worldwide Evaluation in Severe Sepsis (PROWESS) trial were published in 2001, many institutions established criteria for use of drotrecogin alfa (activated) that were similar to the...

FDA to require bar codes on many drugs and biologics: rule may spur centers to add bedside scanning.
April 1, 2004... Pharmacists now can expect thousands of drugs and biological products to have bar codes on their labels by 2006. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued the final rule in February that requires linear bar codes to be included on...

New drug initiatives, task force report announced.
April 1, 2004... The federal government announced several new initiatives recently regarding prescription drugs, as well as the final report from the Counterfeit Drug Task Force: * The final report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's)...

Pregnant women concerned about taking asthma medications.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... A national survey shows that 39% of asthmatic women who have been pregnant discontinued using their asthma medication, reduced their dosage, or did both when expecting. However, the survey found that nearly half (46%) of those using an inhaled...

Many Americans cut dosages to lessen drug costs, AP poll finds.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Almost a third of Americans say paying for prescription drugs is a problem in their families, and many are cutting dosages to deal with the crunch, according to a poll by the Associated Press (AP). Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said the...

Talks with docs can result in less expensive drugs for patients.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Patients who discuss the costs of prescription drugs with their doctors often result in getting a less expensive prescription, according to the results of a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll. Two in five...

Elderly continue to be prescribed inappropriate medication.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... A recent study shows that elderly people continue to be prescribed potentially inappropriate medications at ambulatory care visits. The study, published in the Feb. 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, compared 1995 and 2000 data from...

New FDA approvals.
April 1, 2004... These drugs recently received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): * Bevacizumab (Avastin) by Genentech. The FDA has approved bevacizumab (Avastin) as a firstline treatment for patients with metastatic...

Palonosetron (Aloxi) formulary evaluation: Part 2: clinical trial data, adverse effects, and cost analysis.
April 1, 2004... (Editor's note: This second part of the palonosetron formulary evaluation addresses the available clinical trial, adverse effects, and cost analysis data. For information on mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, indications, dosage, and...