- Safety & Recalls
- Regulatory Updates
- Drug Coverage
- COPD
- Cardiovascular
- Obstetrics-Gynecology & Women's Health
- Ophthalmology
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Pediatrics
- Urology
- Pharmacy
- Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
- Diabetes and Endocrinology
- Allergy, Immunology, and ENT
- Musculoskeletal/Rheumatology
- Respiratory
- Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
- Dermatology
- Oncology
Alternative to NSAIDs should be considered for patients with CAD, hypertension
Chronic self-reported use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and hypertension is associated with harmful outcomes and alternative methods of pain relief should be considered, according to a study in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
Chronic self-reported use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and hypertension is associated with harmful outcomes and alternative methods of pain relief should be considered, according to a study in the July issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
To establish data about the safety of chronic NSAIDs in hypertensive patients with CAD, researchers conducted a post hoc analysis from the INternational VErapamil Trandolapril STudy (INVEST), which was an international randomized trial conducted in 14 countries that enrolled patients with hypertension and CAD from September 1997 to February 2003. At each visit, patients were asked by the local-site investigator if they were currently taking aspirin or NSAIDs.
For the purpose of the recent analysis, researchers categorized patients who reported NSAID use at baseline and each follow-up as chronic NSAID users, while all patients who reported never taking NSAIDS or only occasionally were defined as nonchronic NSAID users. The primary composite outcome was all-cause death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke. Cox regression was used to construct a multivariate analysis for the primary outcome.
Chronic self-reported NSAID use by hypertensive patients with CAD over a mean of 2.7 years was associated with a 47% increase in the first occurrence of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke, due to a 90% increase in all-cause mortality, a 126% increase in cardiovascular mortality, and a 66% increase in total myocardial infarctions. Researchers reported that it was unknown if a particular agent was responsible for the excess risk.
“Among coronary artery disease patients with hypertension, chronic self-reported use of NSAIDs was associated with harmful outcomes, and this practice should be avoided where possible. This association did not appear to be due to elevated blood pressure because chronic NSAID users actually had slightly lower on-treatment blood pressure over a mean of 2.7 years of follow-up. Until further data are available, alternative modes of pain relief should be considered for these patients,” the authors wrote.
Coalition promotes important acetaminophen dosing reminders
November 18th 2014It may come as a surprise that each year Americans catch approximately 1 billion colds, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that as many as 20% get the flu. This cold and flu season, 7 in 10 patients will reach for an over-the-counter (OTC) medicine to treat their coughs, stuffy noses, and sniffles. It’s an important time of the year to remind patients to double check their medicine labels so they don’t double up on medicines containing acetaminophen.
Support consumer access to specialty medications through value-based insurance design
June 30th 2014The driving force behind consumer cost-sharing provisions for specialty medications is the acquisition cost and not clinical value. This appears to be true for almost all public and private health plans, says a new report from researchers at the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID Center) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC).
Management of antipsychotic medication polypharmacy
June 13th 2013Within our healthcare-driven society, the increase in the identification and diagnosis of mental illnesses has led to a proportional increase in the prescribing of psychotropic medications. The prevalence of mental illnesses and subsequent treatment approaches may employ monotherapy as first-line treatment, but in many cases the use of combination of therapy can occur, leading to polypharmacy.1 Polypharmacy can be defined in several ways but it generally recognized as the use of multiple medications by one patient and the most common definition is the concurrent use of five more medications. The presence of polyharmacy has the potential to contribute to non-compliance, drug-drug interactions, medication errors, adverse events, or poor quality of life.
Medical innovation improves outcomes
June 12th 2013I have been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the pancreas, a disease that’s long been considered not just incurable, but almost impossible to treat-a recalcitrant disease that some practitioners feel has given oncology a bad name. I was told my life would be measured in weeks.
