What happens when a network of pain clinics in a town closes and 20,000 chronic pain patients are scrambling for care? In upstate South Carolina this year, when most of the pain clinics in the area shuttered their doors, providers came together to help.

Loren Bonner

It’s been a stop-and-go journey toward the elimination of the retroactive direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) fees that are causing intense turmoil in the pharmacy community, particularly in the independent pharmacy space.

Rachel Balick

A controlled substance prescription must be issued for a legitimate medical purpose and in the usual course of professional practice.

David B. Brushwood, BSPharm, JD

Pharmacist interventions can increase the percentage of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) who are on appro-priate statin therapy and improve an organization’s quality metrics when conducted as part of a novel population health initiative, show new data by Haby and colleagues published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmD

In late September, the American College of Obstetricians and Gyne-cologists (ACOG) published an update to its position on OTC hor-monal contraceptives.

Loren Bonner

Last August, FDA approved pretomanid, a new antibiotic used in com-bination with bedaquiline (Sirturo—Janssen) and linezolid for treat-ment of patients with multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB).

Aina Abell

Longstanding lack of standardization for iron product labeling has led to frequent dispensing and administration errors.

Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA

Proposed revisions to USP General Chapters <795> and <797>, which establish standards for nonsterile and sterile compounding, respectively, raised the ire of compounding pharmacists because of their stringent rules around beyond-use dates (BUDs).

Rachel Balick

A West Virginia pharmacy received an Immediate Suspension Order (ISO) from DEA, abruptly suspending the pharmacy’s registration to dispense controlled substances.

David B. Brushwood, BSPharm, JD

New data published by CDC show that maternal influenza vaccina-tion rates for pregnant women remain low, with only about one-half of women getting the vaccine.

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmD

CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met in Atlanta on October 23–24, 2019, to discuss the current in uenza sea-son and vaccine effectiveness; updated recommendations for pertussis, Ebola, orthopoxvirus, dengue, and rabies vaccines; measles outbreaks; and a variety of other immunization topics.

Stephan L. Foster, PharmD, FAPhA, CAPT (Ret)

In the hopes of reducing liquid medication dosing errors in children, a new study is providing insight into the kinds of dosing tools parents and caregivers are using.

Loren Bonner

Headache is one of the most common complaints worldwide, with a substantial economic impact.

Daniel L. Krinsky, RPh, MS

Many lab tests, particularly those used to diagnose thyroid and heart disease, use biotin immunoassay technology and are potentially affected by biotin in a patient’s blood sample.

Mary Warner

A comparative effectiveness analysis published in Lancet found that thiazide or thiazide-like diuretics were superior to ACE inhibitors as first-line medications for management of hypertension.

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmD

Updates from FDA

Trending Topics in Health-System Pharmacy

Preventing infectious disease transmission among health care workers and patients is a critical component of safe health care delivery in all settings.

Joey Sweeney, PharmD, BCPS

New data from an observational study conducted by CDC showed that first-line antibiotics were prescribed in only 50% of visits to retail clinics, emergency departments (EDs), urgent care centers, and offices for conditions such as pharyngitis, sinusitis, and acute otitis media.

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmDMaria G. Tanzi, PharmDMaria G. Tanzi, PharmDMaria G. Tanzi, PharmDMaria G. Tanzi, PharmD

The International Consensus Group recently updated the 2010 recommendations for managing nonvariceal upper GI bleeding (UGIB). The guidelines, which focus on resuscitation, assessment, bleed management, and secondary prophylaxis for recurrences, are presented as 15 statements with 38 corresponding recommendations based on the quality of evidence evaluated by voting participants.

Joey Sweeney, PharmD, BCPSJoey Sweeney, PharmD, BCPSJoey Sweeney, PharmD, BCPS

In 2019, federal legislative and regulatory activities continued to shape and advance the practice of pharmacy, with the Trump Administration and Congress focusing heavily on prescription drug prices and implementation of measures to counter the opioid epidemic and provide support for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD).

APhA Member News

Rob Maher, PharmD, and his bedside delivery transitions-of-care phar-macy team was asked to fill prescriptions for “Ruth,” an older adult patient who was awaiting discharge at a nearby hospital.

Sonya Collins

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