Free Webinar - "USP 797: The Infection Preventionist and Pharmacist as Partners in Medication Safety" with Keith St. John, MS, CIC - Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 2:00 PM Eastern. Reserve your seat now.
Here is your daily news to keep you well-informed:
60 percent of hospitals surveyed say they've trashed scarce drugs Amid ongoing shortages of critical drugs, 60 percent of hospital pharmacists surveyed said they've been forced to trash life-saving or expensive medications because of misguided government rules, a new poll shows. MSNBC
Hospitals underestimate threat of HCAHPS penalties Despite the looming threat of reduced reimbursements under performance measures, hospitals may be overly optimistic that they will perform well, according to experts at the American College of Health Executives' (ACHE) annual congress in Chicago. Fierce Healthcare
FDA must act to remove antibiotics from animal feed: judge A federal judge on Thursday ordered regulators to start proceedings to withdraw approval for the use of common antibiotics in animal feed, citing concerns that overuse is endangering human health by creating antibiotic-resistant "superbugs". Reuters
Antidepressant Proves Effective in Alleviating Osteoarthritis Pain Antidepressants can play a key role in alleviating painful conditions like osteoarthritis and may result in fewer side effects than traditionally prescribed drug regimes, such as anti-inflammatories and opioids, according to a perspective paper published online ahead of print publication by the International Journal of Clinical Practice. Science Daily
Drug Dosage Was Approved Despite Warning Four months before a best-selling Alzheimer's drug was set to lose its patent protection, its makers received approval for a higher dosage that extended their exclusive right to sell the drug. But the higher dosage caused potentially dangerous side effects and worked only slightly better than the existing drugs, according to an article published Thursday in the British Medical Journal. The New York Times
Blood-Pressure Drug May Slow Diabetes Progression A common high-blood-pressure medication appears to reverse the diabetes-related death of pancreatic beta cells, according to a University of Alabama at Birmingham study published in the journal Diabetes. Science Daily
Antidepressants May Raise Risk for Pregnancy Complication Pregnant women taking the antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) face a slightly increased risk of developing dangerously high blood pressure, Canadian researchers report. HealthDay
Community Pharmacy
Fake Pharmacies Create Drug Shortages Here's how it works: The fake pharmacy, which is licensed, acts as a middleman. But rather than dispensing short-supply drugs to patients, as their licenses require, they buy drugs from the manufacturer, then sell the drug to a wholesale company they also own. The wholesale company, which is often at the same address as the fake pharmacy, then offers the drugs to desperate hospitals, often at an even higher price. ABC News
