December, 2023

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The Role of Pharmacists in HIV Care Continues to Expand

Pharmacy Times

Pharmacists play a vital role in HIV care by addressing social determinants of health, managing complex HIV medication regimens, and providing comprehensive patient counseling.

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The Unintended Impact of Opioid Prescribing Guidelines: Part 1

Drug Topics

The CDC first released opioid prescribing guidelines in 2016.

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Addressing Burnout: Why Psychological Safety Matters at Work

Pharmacy Times

Psychological safety substantially contributes to team effectiveness, learning, employee retention, and—most critically—better decisions and better performance.

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Five Ways Preceptors May Integrate Generative Artificial Intelligence Programs Into Pharmacy Education Learning Experiences

IDStewardship

In this article a clinical pharmacist discusses ways that preceptors may integrate generative artificial intelligence programs into pharmacy education for student and resident learning experiences. Authored By: Timothy P. Gauthier, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCIDP Generative artificial intelligence was NOT used to create this text. Although, maybe it would be better if I had used it!

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From Diagnosis to Delivery: How AI is Revolutionizing the Patient Experience

Speaker: Simran Kaur, Founder & CEO at Tattva Health Inc.

The healthcare landscape is being revolutionized by AI and cutting-edge digital technologies, reshaping how patients receive care and interact with providers. In this webinar led by Simran Kaur, we will explore how AI-driven solutions are enhancing patient communication, improving care quality, and empowering preventive and predictive medicine. You'll also learn how AI is streamlining healthcare processes, helping providers offer more efficient, personalized care and enabling faster, data-driven

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From Fear to Passion: Embracing the Unexpected Journey into Pediatric Pharmacy with Dr. Stephen Small!

Pharmacy Is Right For Me

An Unexpected Path Deciding exactly what you want to do or where you want to go in life is difficult. What if you don’t like where you end up? What if you change your mind? Dr. Stephen Small is a prime example of what it looks like to not only change your mind but to embrace the unexpected. Dr. Small is a pediatric clinical pharmacist specialist but if you had asked him years earlier, he would not have thought that he would end up working with children, “Pediatrics was actually the only specialt

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STAT+: UnitedHealth used secret rules to restrict rehab care for seriously ill Medicare Advantage patients

STAT

Health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group used secret rules to restrict access to rehabilitation care requested by specific groups of seriously ill patients, including those who lived in nursing homes or suffered from cognitive impairment, according to internal documents obtained by STAT. The documents, which outline parameters for the clinicians who initially review referrals for rehab care, reveal that many patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans were routed for a quick denial based on c

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Pharmacists Play Unique Role in Advancing Health Equity for Patients With Chronic Disease

Drug Topics

A new study, outlined in a poster at ASHP Midyear 2023, identified 3 key themes associated with the ways in which pharmacists are positioned to advance health equity for patients with chronic diseases.

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Doxycycline for Treatment of Pneumococcal Infection Could Reduce Clostridioides difficile Infection

Pharmacy Times

Less than 1% of individuals developed Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), but for those who previously had a CDI the year before, 12% developed a new infection.

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How to avoid prednisone withdrawal

The Checkup by Singlecare

Millions of people are prescribed prednisone each year for conditions that range from psoriasis and eczema to multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Prednisone belongs to a class of drugs called corticosteroids (also sometimes called glucocorticoids)—steroids that reduce inflammation in the body by replacing cortisol, a hormone produced in the adrenal glands, and slowing down an overactive immune system.

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2024 Outlook: Despite hurdles, stakeholders bullish on VR in behavioral health

Fierce Healthcare

Though often associated with gaming, virtual reality (VR) is a technology rapidly evolving in healthcare. | VR therapy is not a new concept, though it wasn’t until the last few years that the field became prominent. And as technology has improved and gotten more intuitive to use, it has also become less expensive.

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Position Your Pharmacy for Expansion

Speaker: Chris Antypas and Josh Halladay

Access to limited distribution drugs and payer contracts are key to pharmacy expansion. But how do you prepare your operations to take the next step? Meaningful data: Collect and share clinical data regarding outcomes, utilization, and more Reporting: Limited distribution models require efficient tracking and reporting systems Workflows: Align workflows with specific pharma and payer contractual requirements For in-depth, expert insights on pharmacy expansion, watch this webinar from Inovalon.

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Quitting alcohol — or even drinking less — reduces risk of oral cavity and esophageal cancer, per new analysis

STAT

Reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption reduces the risk of developing oral cavity and esophagus cancers, according to a special report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer. But more data are needed to conclude whether the same is true for several other cancer types, including colorectal, breast, and liver cancer. Even so, it is likely that reducing or ceasing to drink alcohol will lessen the risk of these cancers, said Farhad Islami, a cancer epidemiologist at the American C

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Pfizer warns of further sales decline for COVID products, plots $500M in additional cost cuts

Fierce Pharma

Using Tuesday to announce good news—that its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen would be | Using Tuesday to announce good news—that its $43 billion acquisition of Seagen would be finalized on Thursday—Pfizer sandwiched its bad news, which came on Wednesday with its 2024 guidance. The company expects revenue to reach between $58.5 billion and $61.5 billion next year, coming up short of the analyst consensus of $63.2 billion, largely because of the plummeting demand for its COVID-19 products.

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How Patient Characteristics, SDOH, Impact CLL, SLL Treatment Backdrop

Drug Topics

Social determinants of health (SDOH), such as financial disparities or lack of insurance, create barriers to accessing breakthrough therapies like BTK inhibitors among patients with CLL and SLL.

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Study: Stem Cell Therapy Shows Improvement in QoL for Those With Heart Failure

Pharmacy Times

Investigators also found that the results demonstrated lower death and hospitalization rates for those with advanced heart failure treated with cell therapy.

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What the FDA's New Dosage Guidance Means for the Future of Clinical Research

Speaker: Dr. Ben Locwin - Biopharmaceutical Executive & Healthcare Futurist

What will the future hold for clinical research? A recent draft from the FDA provides valuable insight. In "Optimizing the Dosage of Human Prescription Drugs and Biological Products for the Treatment of Oncologic Diseases," the FDA notes that "targeted therapies demonstrate different dose-response relationships compared to cytotoxic chemotherapy, such that doses below the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) may have similar efficacy to the MTD but with fewer toxicities.

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‘It’s not worth risking your life’: fears over painkiller Nolotil grow for Brits in Spain

The Guardian - Pharmaceutical Industry

Links between the deaths of UK patients and the popular drug have spurred on action among expats in Jávea and beyond As Britain faced widespread frosts last week, there were blue skies, a warm breeze and temperatures above 20C on white sand beaches dotted with palm trees in Jávea on the Costa Blanca. About 5,000 Britons live in this small town, once walled and fortified to protect it from marauding pirates.

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Few health plans have dedicated Alzheimer’s and dementia care management strategy: survey

Fierce Healthcare

Health plans and value-based care organizations are ill-prepared to help patients with Alzheimer’s Disease or related dementia. | Only a small fraction of health plans and value-based care organizations have a fully developed care management model for its enrollees with dementia or Alzheimer's, a new survey shows.

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STAT+: Complications spiked 25% in hospitals bought by private equity

STAT

There’s ample evidence that private equity buyouts in health care drive up costs. A new study shows quality declines, too. Hospitals acquired by private equity saw a 25% uptick in adverse events compared with controls, according to a new study released today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings add to an accumulating body of literature underscoring the harm that occurs when financial investors take over health care providers — not only hospitals, but nur

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Europe names hundreds of critical medicines in quest to counter drug shortages

Fierce Pharma

Over the past several years, drug shortages have vexed doctors and patients on both sides of the Atlantic, prompting lawmakers and government agencies to take action in both Europe and the U.S. | Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency laid out a list of more than 300 critical generic drugs that could fall prey to future shortages. Inclusion in the list doesn’t mean a particular drug is likely to experience a shortage anytime soon, the EMA said.

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5 Reasons to Upgrade Your Pharmacy Management Software

Are you still using workarounds to manage your daily operations? To achieve peak performance, it's time to explore other options for specialty and infusion pharmacy software. Streamline pharmacy operations and improve clinical performance with automated processing, real-time data exchange, and electronic decision support. Download this helpful infographic to: Drive efficiency and patient adherence from referral receipt to delivery and ongoing care – all with our Pharmacy Cloud.

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ChatGPT Provides Inaccurate Responses to Questions About Drug Information

Drug Topics

Two posters presented at ASHP 2023 Midyear examined how accurate answers were from the artificial intelligence chatbot.

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New Biomarker Shows Potential in Therapeutic Development for Alzheimer Disease

Pharmacy Times

Investigators analyzed the effects of harmful accumulation of HDAC6 in the brains of mouse models with Alzheimer disease to determine any changes in disease progression.

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Prescribing Red Flags and Suspicious Controlled Substance Orders: Current Cautionary Tales

The FDA Law Blog

By Larry K. Houck — Separate decisions by federal district courts in Texas and Puerto Rico in the past two months provide cautionary tales for every pharmacy and wholesale distributor dispensing or distributing controlled substances. On October 10th, based on ability to pay, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas imposed a $275,000 civil penalty on Zarzamora Healthcare LLC, in San Antonio, and its pharmacist-owner.

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BCBS of Massachusetts faces backlash from docs over anesthesia coverage policy change

Fierce Healthcare

A new policy from Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts, starting Jan. | Some patients needing a colonoscopy in Massachusetts won't be covered for monitored anesthesia care, or MAC, starting Jan. 1. Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts is standing by the policy, which will save the insurer money but require the patient to remain awake for the operation.

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U.S. government spent more on health care in 2022 than six countries with universal health care combined

STAT

American taxpayers footed the bill for at least $1.8 trillion in federal and state health care expenditures in 2022 — about 41% of the nearly $4.5 trillion in both public and private health care spending the U.S. recorded last year, according to the annual report released last week by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. On top of that $1.8 trillion, third-party programs, which are often government-funded, and public health programs accounted for another $600 billion in spendin

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2024 forecast: M&A saw an uptick in 2023. Analysts expect the trend to continue

Fierce Pharma

Even with the Federal Trade Commission keeping a watchful eye on the biopharma industry and the economic landscape giving some players pause, mergers and acquisitions are back on the rise. | Even with the Federal Trade Commission keeping a watchful eye on the biopharma industry and the economic landscape giving some players pause, mergers and acquisitions are back on the rise.

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Instagram Could Serve as Educational Platform for New FDA Drug Approvals

Drug Topics

An evaluative study on an open resource Instagram page that provides information on new medications to pharmacists was recently presented at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2023 Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition.

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Migraine Medication Could Be More Effective Than Ibuprofen for Treatment of Attacks

Pharmacy Times

Three classes of drugs could be 2 to 5 times more effective than ibuprofen for the treatment of migraine attacks, according to results of a study.

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To fight rare diseases, win the data battle first

pharmaphorum

To effectively combat rare diseases, it is essential to prioritise the collection and analysis of data. This article explores how pharmaceutical companies are leveraging AI and focusing on orphan drugs to tackle rare diseases.

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Fees charged by hospitals for colonoscopy procedures 50% higher than surgical centers, study finds

Fierce Healthcare

A new price comparison study finds over 50% higher facility fees for commercially insured colonoscopies performed in hospitals rather than ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), suggesting that “money | The analysis of commercial payers' price transparency data shows that “money has apparently been left on the table” for employers and consumers, the study's senior author says.

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Gene therapy offered this 7-year-old freedom. The price: a grueling year

STAT

PHILADELPHIA — The meds Shelby Campbell needed for her rare blood disorder stopped working just after her sixth birthday. She lost her appetite and was often doubled over in pain. She continued getting blood transfusions but her doctors struggled to manage side effects that threatened her organs. By the time she turned 7, the doctors told her parents they had to do something — soon.

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FDA approves bluebird's sickle cell disease gene therapy. Can Lyfgenia overcome CRISPR’s halo?

Fierce Pharma

Alongside a historic approval for the first therapy utilizing the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology, the FDA has cleared a rival gene replacement therapy, also for sickle cell | Alongside a historic approval for the first therapy utilizing the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology, the FDA has cleared a rival gene replacement therapy, also for sickle cell disease (SCD).

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Slideshow: 2023 Biologic Product Approvals

Drug Topics

Biologic approvals ranged from gene therapies for hemophilia A to a cellular therapy to treat type 1 diabetes.

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FDA Approves Iptacopan for the Treatment of Paroxysmal Nocturnal Hemoglobinuria in Adult Patients

Pharmacy Times

During clinical trials, individuals treated with iptacopan had increased hemoglobin levels and did not need to receive blood transfusions.

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Assessing B-Cell Maturation Antigen Directed Therapies in Multiple Myeloma Treatment

Drug Topics

Three posters presented at the 65th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition looked into the efficacy and safety of the therapies.

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