The FDA last Thursday issued an alert on how Fentanyl patches can be deadly to children. "According to Zachary A. Oleszczuk, PharmD, in FDA's Division of Medication Error Prevention and Analysis, there have been 26 cases of accidental exposure to fentanyl since 1997, most of them involving children younger than 2 years old. There have been 10 deaths and an additional 12 cases requiring hospitalization."
Michael Cohen posted an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer last week about the heartbreaking case of 2-year-old Blake who died after putting a fentanyl patch in his mouth after visiting his great-grandmother in a nursing home.
Another alert came out from the FDA last Friday about aliskiren-containing medications in combination with ACEIs/ARBs: "These drug combinations should not be used (are contraindicated) in patients with diabetes. In addition, avoid use of aliskiren with ARBs or ACEIs in patients with moderate to severe renal impairment (i.e., where glomerular filtration rate [GFR] < 60 mL/min)."
Users of Sentri7 clinical surveillance can write a rule in just a few minutes looking for patients with orders for Amturnide or Tekturna with Cozaar/Hyzaar (or other ACEIs/ARBs) and poor renal function (i.e. GFR). Get a demo today and see how easy it is.
To swift and safe healthcare, Team Pharmacy OneSource
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Mylan gets FDA nod for generic Lescol capsules PharmaBiz
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4. Thomson Reuters Names Top 100 Hospitals for 2012
If all Medicare patients received care equal to that provided by hospitals that made Thomson Reuters' new top 100 list for 2012, 186,000 people who died would be alive, more than $4.3 billion would be saved, and about 56,000 patients would have avoided complications from hospital procedures they otherwise endured. Get the full story from HealthLeaders Media.
5. 'Off-Label' Drug Use Appears Common
Off-label prescribing of medications is common, but the practice varies according to drug, and patient and doctor characteristics, a Canadian study finds. Get the full story from HealthDay.
6. Discussion: 6 Hour Hang Time for SDV with ACD
"Is anyone aware of any studies that study the 6 hour hang time for a single dose vial on an automated compounding device. The vial would only have 1 puncture and would remain in a closed system for the 6 hour duration and I would not expect it to be at risk for contamination after 6 hours. Any thoughts on this subject would be appreciated as I'm considering doing my own study on this." (read entire post/reply)
7. Top News Story Last Week: Survey: 7 Deaths From Anesthesia Drug Shortage
Seven U.S. anesthesiologists have reported that drug shortages resulted in deaths of their patients, according to a new survey from the American Society of Anesthesiologists. View last week's news review.
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