|
Letter from the Editor |
News |
Congratulations |
IJPC now on Facebook and Youtube |
Did You Know? |
Tip of the Week |
Looking Back |
|
|
|
Info@CompoundingToday.com or (800) 757-4572 ext 1 |
|
|
To place a classified advertisement please contact: Lauren Bernick lbernick@ijpc.com or (405) 513-4236 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 | |  |
| Clinical Pharmaceutics and Compounding, Part XIV |
|
The Blurred Line Between "Topical" and "Transdermal", Part C
This week, we will look at the differences in composition of "topicals" and "transdermals."
The following "general" table of compositions may help in differentiation of formulations with penetrating ability:
Ingredient Category | Topical | Transdermal |
|
Vehicle | Yes | Yes |
Solvents | Yes | Yes |
Preservative | Yes | Yes |
Stiffening agent | Yes | Yes |
Gelling agent | Yes | Yes |
pH adjustment | Yes | Yes |
Humectant | Yes | Yes |
Penetration Enhancer | No | Yes |
Liposomes | No | Yes |
There may be some extent of transdermal penetration in almost any dosage form applied topically, even an aqueous solution. However, as is evident, the presence of a penetration enhancer and liposome formation can result in greater penetration when properly formulated. Example penetration enhancers include:
- Water
- Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)
- Dimethylacetamide (DMA)
- Dimethylformamide (DMF)
- Azone (Laurocapram)
- Pyrrolidones
- Fatty acids (lauric acid, oleic acid, linoleic, linolenic)
- Ethanol, Propylene glycol
- Surfactants (anionic and non-ionic)
- Urea
- Terpenes (essential oils)
- Phospholipids
- Others
Next week, we will conclude our brief discussion of "topical" and "transdermal" and their clinical implications.
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
Flu Vaccine 23% Effective
The CDC says this year's flu vaccine has reduced the risk of a bad case of influenza by 23%. This 23% figure is a measure known as "vaccine effectiveness (VE)," and it is certainly on the low end of the spectrum. The VE for flu vaccines in the past has ranged from a low of 10% to a high of 60%. Even in years when the vaccine is a good match for circulating viruses, the vaccine effectiveness has been in the 50% to 60% range.
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-flu-vaccine-effectiveness-20150115-story.html
FDA Oversight of Lab Tests Opposed by Mayo Clinic
Proposed federal rules will require government approval of certain tests developed in medical schools and private business laboratories. The rules would require the tests to have proven effectiveness. Mayo explains that it already goes through a certification process with other federal agencies and monitors its so-called adverse events. Mayo has a very large laboratory testing service, which is part of a national $65 billion-a-year industry that is among the fastest growing sectors of U.S. medical technology. It offers 1,600 lab-developed tests among an array of 3,500 tests.
http://www.startribune.com/business/288875591.html
27 New York Pharmacies to Close
Tops Friendly Markets in New York is closing pharmacy departments in 27 of its 162 stores later this month. The pharmacies will be replaced by more fresh food, deli, and health- and beauty-care products. Space inside some of their stores is at a premium and some of the locations are not filling enough prescriptions to make the most efficient use of the store space. The supermarket chain will transfer pharmacy prescriptions and inventory to five CVS/Pharmacy and 22 Rite Aid locations near each affected store. The organizations executives did not say how many pharmacists and pharmacy technicians would be displaced by the pharmacy closings.
http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/tops-close-27-new-york-pharmacies
|
|
Congratulations
Pharmacist Gigi Davidson has been honored with USP's Beal Award for Distinguished Volunteer Service—the organizations highest award. The award is given every five years and is presented at the USP Convention. Congratulations Gigi!
|
|
IJPC Now on Facebook and Youtube
Become a fan of the IJPC Facebook page and share ideas, photos, and keep up to date with the latest compounding information - http://www.facebook.com/IJPCompounding
Learn about the Journal's new multi-media features and view our growing collection of educational and training videos at www.ijpc.com/video or by subscribing to our Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/IJPCompounding.
|
|
Did You Know ...
�that in the 1960s and thereabouts the relationship was between a pharmacist and patient and cash payment was direct from the patient to the pharmacist? Costs were low and payment was immediate. Then the insurances companies came in and promoted "shared risk" but required a "cut of the pie" and prescription costs increased, premium payments were made to the insurance companies, payment was slow, and costs were controlled by the insurance company. Then, along came the PBMs with more people involved paying in premiums and more people getting a "cut of the pie"; payment is controlled by the PBM, is slow, and patients and (much of the time) healthcare practitioners don't know what is going on. In fact, many of the employees at the PBMs don't know what is going on! Guess what�..the system is broken!
|
|
Tip of the Week
What we hear as "progress" is often nothing more than additional mouths at the feeding trough to get a portion, even though they add nothing, or very little, to the process. It seems the system is drastically broken and needs to be changed, with a lot of it going back to the old method of "direct cash payment for services"! Insurance may be needed for shared risk for "catastrophic" issues but most of health care should be on a simple cash basis. Costs and fraud could be decreased and pharmacy and medicine could once again be much more predictable.
|
|
Looking Back
College boys!
Your courage muster.
Shave off that fuzzy,
Cookie duster!
Burma Shave
|
|