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May 2024

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Volume 30, Issue 5

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Practice & Trends

Ready or not, psychedelic medicine is coming to market

On The Cover

Ready or not, psychedelic medicine is coming to market

In February, FDA accepted Lykos Therapeutics’ new drug application (NDA) for midomafetamine (MDMA) capsules, used in combination with psychotherapy, for the treatment of PTSD. If the treatment is approved, a decision that could come as soon as August 2024, it will be the first in what is expected to be a growing number of FDA-approved psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Sonya Collins

Ensure medications are properly reconstituted to prevent dosing errors and patient harm

Medication Safety

Ensure medications are properly reconstituted to prevent dosing errors and patient harm

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has published several cases of medications being dispensed to patients before they were properly reconstituted. Most of the cases involved pediatric patients who received overdoses of antibiotics when their parents administered the drug powder to their children.

Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA

APhA 2024 Immunization Champion Awards

Immunization Champs

APhA 2024 Immunization Champion Awards

Pharmacists, in collaboration with physicians, public health officials, and other immunization stakeholders, are recognized as important members of the immunization neighborhood and are developing solutions to increase access to vaccines and other public health services.

 

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Mental health challenges: Are psychedelics the answer?

Today's Perspective

Mental health challenges: Are psychedelics the answer?

Psychedelics derived from plants, such as mescaline and psylocibin, have been used by indigenous peoples as part of religious rites for centuries, and more recently by patients seeking relief from PTSD and severe depression, despite their potentially harmful effects.

Kristin Wiisanen, PharmD, FAPhA, FCCP, Pharmacy Today editor in chief

It’s time to stop requiring certificate training in state regulations

Association Perspective

It’s time to stop requiring certificate training in state regulations

My columns and my CEO blogs all share one common thread: truth spoken honestly and sincerely, even if it isn’t easy to write or easy to read. And I’m going to write today about something that I feel deep down needs to be said: pharmacists, be careful what you ask for from your state regulators and legislators.

Michael D. Hogue, PharmD, FAPhA, FNAP, FFIP, Executive vice president and CEO of APhA

News Roundup

Bulletin Today

News Roundup

Does biosimilar competition lower costs for patients? Some Medicare health plans to start paying for weight-loss drugs. Hormonal contraception will be available without a prescription in New York pharmacies. Study links heart failure risk to e-cigarette use. Model sets out to tackle CVD disparities through pharmacy team partnerships. Semaglutide yields positive results for patients with obesity-related heart failure and T2D. 

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Drugs & Diseases

Using Xolair to reduce allergic reactions to foods

New Drug

Using Xolair to reduce allergic reactions to foods

On February 16, 2024, FDA approved the first medication indicated to help reduce allergic reactions to more than one type of food after accidental exposure. Xolair (omalizumab—Genentech) injection is approved for the reduction of type I allergic reactions, including reducing the risk of anaphylaxis that may occur with accidental exposure to one or more foods in adults and children 1 year or older.

Lauren Howell, PharmD

Balancing act: Gabapentinoids and exacerbation risk in COPD

Gabapentin

Balancing act: Gabapentinoids and exacerbation risk in COPD

Gabapentinoids, such as gabapentin and pregabalin, are commonly used in the management of epilepsy and neuropathic pain. However, these medications have recently come under scrutiny due to potential respiratory adverse effects, particularly in patients with COPD, which are characterized by progressive airflow limitation and recurrent exacerbations that impact a person’s quality of life.

Aiya Almogaber, PharmD

Weight plays a role in pediatric prescriptions

Pediatrics

Weight plays a role in pediatric prescriptions

When it comes to dispensing medications for infants and children, even the smallest of miscalculations could have potentially serious consequences. Traditionally, though, one piece of information—the weight of pediatric patients—has not been provided by prescribers, leaving it up to pharmacists to check weights or provide safe dosing guidelines for parents and caregivers.

Elizabeth Briand

Biotin: Boon or bunk?

On the Shelf

Biotin: Boon or bunk?

Biotin has been at the top of supplement charts for years, promoted as being beneficial for shiny, thick hair; strong and fast-growing nails; and healthy, radiant skin. 

Mickie Cathers

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Health Systems

Double duty: Treating chronic pain and CVD effectively

CVD

Double duty: Treating chronic pain and CVD effectively

Treatment plans for complex conditions can be—you guessed it— very complex. Chronic pain and CVD are two common disease states that require medication treatment, but despite the high incidence rates of both conditions, there is limited guidance for treating these conditions together.

Ariel Clark, PharmD

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CPE

A patient’s journey with migraine
CPE

CPE

A patient’s journey with migraine

Migraine headache is a major public health concern, being the sixth most prevalent disease worldwide and affecting more than a billion people of virtually every ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, family relationship, geographic location, or overall health.1,2 Despite migraine’s commonness, this illness remains under-recognized and undertreated, resulting in considerable debilitation, reduced quality of life, pain, and economic burdens.3,4 Opportunities to reduce these adverse consequences include increasing migraine diagnosis, improving patient education, enhancing access to and use of migraine-specific medications, optimizing nondrug therapies, and routine evaluations of care.

Richard Wenzel, PharmD, CPPS

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