Drug Formulary Review articles from February 2004

Drug Formulary Review archives from February 2004

Computer prompt promotes switch from intravenous to oral medications: physicians less likely to respond with antimicrobial agents.
February 1, 2004... Researchers from Harvard Medical School's teaching hospital in Boston decided to test if they could encourage physicians to switch appropriate patients from intravenous (IV) to oral (PO) medications. They found that the physicians responded...

Pharmacist interventions increase dramatically with new technology: automation frees time for prospective chart review.
February 1, 2004... Integrating new automated dispensing technology with an already established computerized physician order-entry system (CPOE) has changed the way pharmacists work at El Camino Hospital, a community facility in Mountain View, CA. Freed from most...

Abbott stands firm in ritonavir price increase: 500% increase for patients taking 100 mg a day.
February 1, 2004... Abbott Laboratories is not backing down from its decision to increase the price of ritonavir (Norvir) by 500% monthly for patients who take 100 mg a day. Ritonavir is used in almost all protease inhibitor combinations for treating HIV...

Combination drug therapy prevents BPH progression.(benign prostatic hyperplasia )
February 1, 2004... A combination of drugs is significantly more effective than either drug alone for preventing progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), especially in high-risk men, according to a study appearing in the Dec. 17 issue of the New England...

Details about Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card Program released.
February 1, 2004... Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has announced an interim final regulation for the Medicare Prescription Drug Discount Card Program. The regulation outlining the new drug discount card program is the...

Ortho-McNeil adds warning to topiramate.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical has revised the prescribing information for topiramate/topiramate capsules (Topamax) Tablets/Sprinkle Capsules to include a warning that it causes hyperchloremic, non-anion gap metabolic acidosis. Topiramate is...

Pergolide mesylate (Permax) may cause patients to fall asleep.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... Eli Lilly & Co. is advising health care professionals of the possibility of patients falling asleep while performing daily activities, including the operation of motor vehicles, while receiving treatment with pergolide mesylate (Permax). The...

ViaCell will begin to enroll patients in a Phase I/II clinical trial of CB001.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... * ViaCell will begin to enroll patients in a Phase I/II clinical trial of CB001, a highly purified population of stem cells that has been isolated from umbilical cord blood and multiplied using the company's patented Selective Amplification...

Stressgen Biotechnologies Corp. has announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated HspE7.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... * Stressgen Biotechnologies Corp. has announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated HspE7, the company's lead immunotherapeutic for human papillomavirus-related diseases, as a fast-track product development...

Millennium Pharmaceuticals has announced that the FDA has granted its investigational cancer therapy, MLN2704, fast-track designation.(In The Pipeline)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... * Millennium Pharmaceuticals has announced that the FDA has granted its investigational cancer therapy, MLN2704, fast-track designation. MLN2704 currently is being evaluated in a Phase I/II clinical trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer...

New FDA approvals.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2004... These drugs recently received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA): * Regular approval for another indication of imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. The FDA has granted imatinib mesylate...

Alefacept (Amevive) formulary review.(Drug Criteria & Outcomes)(Product/Service Evaluation)
February 1, 2004... Alefacept (Amevive), produced by Biogen, represents a new drug class for patients with chronic plaque psoriasis. The drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Jan. 31, 2003, and became available on Feb. 3, 2003. ...