- 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
Transdermal buprenorphine effective for moderate-to-severe chronic low back pain
Transdermal buprenorphine (Butrans Transdermal System, Purdue Pharma) was superior to placebo in treating opioid-naïve patients with moderate-to-severe chronic low back pain, according to study results presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, in National Harbor, Md.
Transdermal buprenorphine (Butrans Transdermal System, Purdue Pharma) was superior to placebo in treating opioid-naïve patients with moderate-to-severe chronic low back pain, according to study results presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, in National Harbor, Md.
For this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study, researchers included patients aged ≥18 years with moderate-to-severe low back pain for a minimum of 3 months prior to study entry. Using an enrichment design, researchers treated patients after the screening period with open-label buprenorphine during the run-in period (n=1,024), and then randomly assigned them to treatment with buprenorphine (10 µg or 20 µg; n=257) or matching placebo (n=284).
Week 12 average pain scores (APS) were statistically significantly better in the buprenorphine group compared with placebo (APS=-0.58; P=.0104). Greater proportions of patients with ≥30% and ≥50% pain score improvements were seen in the buprenorphine group.
A secondary end point in the study was the comparison of Medical Outcomes Study (MOS)-sleep disturbance subscale scores, which showed a statistically significant difference in favor of the buprenorphine group (P=.0062). The most common adverse events were nausea, application site rash, and headache.
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.
