- 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
CDC recommends dual therapy to combat gonorrhea resistance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is concerned about the increasing potential in gonorrhea patients for resistance to cephalosporin.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is concerned about the increasing potential in gonorrhea patients for resistance to cephalosporin.
In its July 8 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the CDC summarized findings from the Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP). GISP found that, between 2000 and 2010, isolates with elevated minimum inhibitory concentrations to cephalosporins increased from 0.2% in 2000 to 1.4% in 2010 for cefixime and from 0.1% percent in 2000 to 0.3% in 2010 for ceftriaxone.
Although cephalosporins remain an effective treatment for gonococcal infections, healthcare providers should be vigilant for treatment failure and are requested to report its occurrence to state and local health departments,” said the MMWR article.
The CDC now recommends dual therapy for gonorrhea with ceftriaxone 250 mg plus either azithromycin or doxycycline.
Effective alternative antibiotics and antibiotic combinations to treat gonorrhea are needed urgently, according to the CDC. “Actions undertaken now could delay the spread of cephalosporin-resistant strains and mitigate the public health consequences,” the report stated.
In addition, state and local public health departments should promote maintenance of laboratory capability to culture Neisseria gonorrhoeae to allow testing of isolates for cephalosporin resistance, the report said.
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.
