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Medical Errors: Major Problem
Earlier this year, a daughter stepped to the head of a class of medical students at the University at Buffalo-SUNY and proceeded to describe the cascade of events that killed her 88-year-old mother. The mother was independent and anything but frail when admitted to the hospital with a mild case of gout. The doctors prescribed a muscle relaxant that isn't used for gout—and in fact is prominently displayed on a list of drugs that should be avoided in the elderly. As a result, she suffered a scary fall in rehab and lost the ability to walk. While in the hospital, poor infection-control measures led to a series of infections, each one worse than the previous, and she died in a hospice of sepsis. The daughter said to the class, "Dear God, you shouldn't go into a hospital a fairly robust 88-year-old woman with gout and die 48 days later of sepsis," says the daughter, who directs a number of social services programs for a YWCA in the Buffalo area. "It shouldn't happen."
Click on the link below to read the remainder of this story on medication errors. Physicians and others are now looking closely at their practices to see how they can improve; something compounding pharmacists have been leaders in for the past ten to twelve years!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/29/medical-errors-hospitals-harm-patients_n_1839814.html
"Don't Forget Us!", Novartis Pleads
Novartis has announced to veterinarians that they are "working diligently" to return its parasiticides and therapeutic brands to market after nearly 10 months of manufacturing setbacks and is begging practitioners to resume using the company's products once they come back.
However, in a note sent this week to veterinarians, Novartis Animal Health sales executive Andy Ferrigno did not provide firm distribution dates for Interceptor Flavor Tabs and Sentinel Flavor Tabs. Other veterinary drugs in short supply include Clomicalm (clomipramine hydrochloride), Program tablets and suspension, Milbemite, and Deramaxx (deracoxib).
Despite the plea, it has been expressed that Novartis' market share in animal health might be damaged permanently, as there are 20 or more flea and tick products and roughly 10 heartworm preventatives from which to choose. One vet said, "I had 1,500 patients on Interceptor. We can't go a whole year without heartworm preventative. At this point, we have almost all of our clients switched over to something else. I'm not going to tell them next year that they now need to switch back."
http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=24215
Express Scripts Wins, For Now
Express Scripts persuaded a judge to dismiss most of the legal claims filed by groups of retail pharmacies challenging its $29.1 billion acquisition of Medco Health Solutions Inc. NACDS, NCPA, and independent pharmacies sued Express Scripts and Medco in March claiming the pharmacy-benefit managers' merger would reduce competition and make fewer services available to retail customers.
U.S. District Judge Cathy Bissoon in Pittsburgh threw out the retailers' claims saying any injuries they'd suffer from a loss of competition would be compensable with cash while they'd sought only injunctive relief. Bissoon provisionally dismissed other claims and gave the plaintiffs until Sept. 10 to re-plead them.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-27/express-scripts-wins-dismissal-of-medco-purchase-claims.html
Electronic Prescription Monitoring Programs Alert Abuse
Electronic prescription monitoring programs (ePMPs) may significantly improve drug-abuse detection and could alert clinicians to "doctor shopping". An ePMP allows pharmacists and practitioners to gather drug information about their patients, including the date a prescription was first issued, how many drug providers prescribed, how often, and from which pharmacies a patient has received a drug. The ePMP enables clinicians to determine questionable medication behavior or doctor shopping.
http://www.medwire-news.md/47/101213/Psychiatry/Prescription_drug_monitoring_systems_alert_abuse.html
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