March 1st 2022
Despite the promise of savings billions of dollars in the United States, adoption of biosimilars has been slow. A roundtable discussion among employers highlighted some of the barriers, including formulary design and drug pricing and rebates.
Stavudine: Lactic acidosis, motor weakness warnings
May 1st 2002Bristol-Myers Squibb has issued a "Dear Healthcare Provider" letter and revised labeling to inform of the potential for lactic acidosis and severe hepatomegaly with steatosis-including some fatal cases-when nucleoside analogue therapy is used alone or in combination with other antiretrovirals
Milrinone for acute exacerbations of CHF: Routine use not recommended
May 1st 2002Ratherthan shortening the hospital stay and improving clinical outcomes, a 48-hour infusion of milrinone was associated with increased early treatment failure-particularly due to the development of arrhythmias and hypotension-in patients hospitalized with acute exacerbations of chronic heart failure (CHF).
Popular antidepression herb doesn't stand up in clinical trial-but an SSRI doesn't either.
May 1st 2002Neither extracts of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) nor sertraline (Zoloft) tested in patients with major depressive disorder performed better than placebo in reducing patients' scores on a standard assessment of depression severity.
No advantage to omapatrilat over enalapril in heart failure . . .
May 1st 2002The investigational vasopeptidase inhibitor omapatrilat is as effective as enalapril in preventing major adverse cardiac outcomes in patients with moderate to severe heart failure, but failed to show superiority, said Milton Packer, MD.
Lercanidipine: A long-acting dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker for treatment of hypertension
May 1st 2002Lercanidipine is currently under FDA review for the management of hypertension. In comparative clinical trials, lercanidipine has shown antihypertensive efficacy comparable to that of slow-release nifedipine, amlodipine, nitrendipine, verapamil, captopril, and atenolol. Its side effect profile is similar or superior to these agents. This Focus article reviews those trials as well as lercanidipine?s pharmacologic properties and addresses the agent?s potential role in patients with comorbid conditions.
Health systems/plans share common coverage vision for Clarinex, OTC Claritin
May 1st 2002Last month the FDA's Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee unanimously supported loratadine's (Claritin, Schering-Plough) switch from prescription to over-the-counter status for treatment of chronic idiopathic urticaria, moving the drug one step closer to full OTC status (see significant event timeline in sidebar).
Simple physician-prompting intervention drastically improves outcomes in CHD
April 1st 2002Creighton University, Omaha, NE-Despite the evidence that lipid-lowering drug therapy-especially with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins)-is known to save lives and help prevent subsequent events in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients, utilization of this class of drugs is erratic.
Biologics new and old may offer long-term management option for psoriasis
April 1st 2002An array of both existing and investigational biologic agents are showing efficacy in clearing psoriasis and may prove useful for long-term psoriasis management. So suggests a collection of studies presented at the 60th annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, held recently in New Orleans.
Elimination of third-generation cephalosporins improves VRE infection rate control
April 1st 2002Three-year data have confirmed the effectiveness of a strategy that eliminated all third-generation cephalosporins from a formulary as a means to control the emergence of vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE).