Pharmacists are well aware that polypharmacy is a major issue among patients, especially older adults. Recent studies have estimated that approximately 36% of older adults take at least 5 prescription medications, and 67% take 5 or more medications or supplements, including OTCs.

To encourage the appropriate use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral drug nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid), the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) released an alert for dispensing pharmacists.

CDC now advises all clinicians to talk to their patients who are sexually active, including adolescents, about HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) at least once and to prescribe the prevention medication to anyone who requests them.

New research from CDC, published in the December issue of Pediatrics, shows that the virus that causes mumps continues to circulate in the United States, primarily infecting people vaccinated against it, including children.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is alerting health care providers about potential confusion over new alternative packaging for casirivimab and imdevimab. These monoclonal antibodies, administered together as REGEN-COV, are used for treating COVID-19. ISMP recently received multiple reports about these types of errors.