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Resistance testing should guide initial treatment choice in HIV
A substantial portion of antiretroviral-naïve patients are infected with transmitted drug-resistant HIV with one or more drug-resistant mutations, and they are much more likely to experience treatment failure, according to research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
A substantial portion of antiretroviral-naïve patients are infected with transmitted drug-resistant HIV with one or more drug-resistant mutations, and they are much more likely to experience treatment failure, according to research published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
Linda Wittkop, MD, of the University Bordeaux, Segalen, France, and colleagues participating in European multicohort study, studied 10,056 patients who were receiving combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) and who had undergone genotypic testing for drug-resistant mutation. The goal was to determine the effect of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) on cART.
Of the 10,056 patients, 475 (4.7%) had at least 1 mutation, but received fully-active cART; 479 (4.8%) had at least 1 mutation and resistance to at least 1 drug. The other 9,102 patients had HIV without TDR. Estimates of virological failure at 12 months were 4.2% for patients in the no-TDR group; 4.7% for those in the TDR and fully-active cART group; and 15.1% for those in the TDR and resistant group.
"These findings confirm present treatment guidelines for HIV, which state that the initial treatment choice should be based on resistance testing in treatment-naïve patients," the authors concluded.
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.
