After more than 6 years, CDC is updating its opioid prescribing guidelines. With public feedback, officials are fine-tuning 12 new recommendations in the proposed guidelines, in what will be the first overhaul since 2016.

APhA Staff

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) regularly receives reports from consumers that describe unprofessional and at times callous responses from pharmacists when errors or potential errors are brought to light.

Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA

In Washington, DC, February 22-23, 2022, APhA gathered 46 pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, employers, stakeholders, and other pharmacy organizations representing over 30,000 community pharmacy practice sites to engage in meaningful discussion centered on improving workplaces, well-being, and patient safety.

Mickie Cathers

Pharmacist-delivered asthma management services could reposition the way pharmacists are viewed in the public’s eye.

Loren Bonner

Height, age, weight, race. Three of these things are objectively measurable items. One is not. Yet somehow health care professionals are still using race in practice as though it is an objective measure. This practice is largely based on the fact that practitioners trust guidelines and algorithms to be evidence-based.

Johanna Taylor Katroscik, PharmD

Since 2016, California pharmacists have had the authority to prescribe hormonal contraception. In 2017, the state of Colorado followed suit. Today, community pharmacists in 20 U.S. jurisdictions can prescribe birth control.

Sonya Collins

Updates from FDA

APhA Staff

A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials published February 2022 in JAMA Psychiatry compared antidepressant monotherapy against combined antidepressant therapy and found superior treatment outcomes were associated with combination therapies.

Clarissa Chan, PharmD

CDC recently approved new pneumococcal vaccine (PCV) recommendations.

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmD

Although pandemic restrictions around the United States are relaxing, CDC is still closely monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 virus Omicron variants, including BA.1, BA.1.1, and especially BA.2 lineages.

Clarissa Chan, PharmD

White horehound, also known as Marrubium vulgare, is a perennial plant that is part of the mint family.

Johanna Taylor Katroscik, PharmD

Every year, an estimated 75 million people worldwide require procedures that involve the use of contrast media. Prior to these procedures, the overwhelming majority of physicians—66% to 89%—ask patients about seafood or shellfish allergies based on their perception that iodine triggers those allergies and therefore these patients may not tolerate contrast media.

Sonya Collins

Appropriate use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and a review of lifestyle modifications are key topics included in the updated guideline from the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) on the management of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Maria G. Tanzi, PharmD

Early this year, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) released its latest guidance featuring recommendations to ensure appropriate medication delivery and patient-specific therapy considerations.

Brittany Botescu, PharmD

A new analysis, published February 2022 in Chest by Deshpande and colleagues, looked at the relationship between how often patients were tested for influenza and their clinical outcomes.

Corey Diamond, PharmD

A December 2021 simulation modeling study of 19.45 million people published in JAMA Network Open found that when introducing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) from external sources to mimic the relaxation of COVID-19 pandemic precautions in the United States, hospitalization rates were expected to increase between the spring and summer of 2021.

Clarissa Chan, PharmD

Trending Topics in Health-System Pharmacy

APhA Staff

Four new therapeutic agents are considered in this review, the first in a series of articles on new medications marketed in 2021: atogepant (Qulipta—AbbVie), viloxazine hydrochloride (Qelbree—Supernus Pharmaceuticals), serdexmethylphenidate chloride/dexmethylphenidate hydrochloride (Azstarys—Corium Inc.), and aducanumab-avwa (Aduhelm—Biogen).

Daniel A. Hussar, PhD

APhA Member News

APhA Staff

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