In the August 1 edition of this Newsletter this year, we printed the following:

"A subject that has been evolving over the years and one that we will begin discussing in detail over the next several newsletters and IJPC articles is that of 'Clinical Pharmaceutics.' Clinical pharmaceutics involves applying basic scientific facts to solving problems in medication therapy. Where pharmaceutics has been looked at as being important primarily to those going into pharmaceutical industry, teaching, and compounding, it is now becoming more apparent that therapeutic regimens can be effective or ineffective based upon pharmaceutics and the relationship with the patient."

Well, the time has come to address the topic of Clinical Pharmaceutics, and we will begin a long series on the application of Clinical Pharmaceutics to current pharmacy practice. It will be quite evident from the beginning and throughout this series that compounding pharmacy is directly impacted.

The approach used in these discussions involves scientific pharmaceutic principles and case studies related to each principle and how patient therapy is affected. The August 13, 2014 issue of the Science & Technology for the Hospital Pharmacist newsletter was written by Dr. David Newton of Shenandoah University, and the title of that particular newsletter is "Does Your Drug Expertise Include Clinical Pharmaceutics?" This excellent article really helps set the stage for our coverage of this topic and its application to compounding.

This will be a long journey and will be interrupted occasionally with pressing issues, but the topic is important and it will demonstrate the importance of the sciences involved in pharmaceutics in pharmacy practice.

Loyd V. Allen, Jr., PhD, RPh
Editor-in-Chief
International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding
Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy Twenty-second edition

News

Pharmacist Tied to Deadly 2012 U.S. Meningitis Outbreak Arrested Trying to Leave the U.S.
U.S. officials have arrested a pharmacist linked to a 2012 outbreak of meningitis, which killed 64 people across the U.S., as he was boarding a flight at Boston Logan International Airport on route to Hong Kong. Glenn Adam Chin, 46, was a supervising pharmacist at the former New England Compounding Center of Framingham, Massachusetts. This pharmacy produced the tainted steroids that sickened 700 people in 20 states in the worst outbreak of fungal meningitis recorded in the U.S. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Authorities accused Chin of instructing pharmacy technicians to mislabel medication to indicate it was properly sterilized and tested. He also instructed pharmacy technicians to fraudulently complete cleaning logs at the end of each month purporting to show the rooms were properly cleaned and maintained when in fact they had not been.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/04/usa-health-meningitis-idUSL1N0R51G720140904

Expanded Opioid Return Program
AG Eric Holder announced an expansion of a prescription drug-return program Monday that allows hospitals, pharmacies, and other authorized entities to accept excess drugs. Last April, 390 tons of prescription drugs were collected at about 6,100 sites. The DEA has reported the return of more than 4.1 million pounds over the past four years. The expanded program is expected to take effect October 9, 2014.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/08/hospitals-pharmacies-to-accept-excess-prescription-pills/15275559/

Benzodiazepines Linked to Alzheimer's Disease
Elderly patients that have used benzodiazepines to reduce anxiety or induce sleep are at higher risk of going on to develop Alzheimer's disease, new research finds. Using these medications places a risk of almost twice as likely to develop the disorder. The study compared benzodiazepine use in 1,796 elderly people diagnosed with Alzheimer's with that of 7,184 similar people who had no such diagnosis. Such a study design cannot by itself establish that more intensive use of the medications causes Alzheimer's disease, but it does strengthen such suspicions.
http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-sn-anxiety-drug-alzheimers-20140909-story.html

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Did You Know ...

�that Fall is not only when school starts and the football season begins, it's also time for the State Fairs?

Tip of the Week

Support your State Fairs and have a great family time enjoying the exhibits, food, food, food, food, and the midway!

Book Review

Introduction to Clinical Pharmaceutics
Florence AT
Pharmaceutical Press; 2010; Paperback; 208 pages; $39.99

This is the first book to cover the topic of Clinical Pharmaceutics and considers the role of basic pharmaceutics in determining or modifying clinical outcomes and in explaining the behavior of medicines in the body, including adverse reactions due to formulations and excipients. Topics included are formulation and excipients, surface tension, rheology, solubility, crystallization/precipitation, aggregation, and absorption. Example implications of each phenomenon are discussed within these topics.

Looking Back

A peach looks good,
With lots of fuzz,
But man's no peach,
And never wuz!
     Burma Shave