“It’s a big step to have contraception available over the counter to help navigate some areas where reproductive health care might be limited,” said Lauren Lakdawala, PharmD, from Johns Hopkins Outpatient Specialty Pharmacy, during a packed presentation at APhA’s 2024 Annual Meeting & Exposition on hormonal contraception. The overturn of Roe v Wade affected reproductive health care nationally, she noted.

Loren Bonner

Drug shortages reached an all-time high in 2024. During the first quarter, 323 drugs were in active shortage, according to an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) analysis.

Sonya Collins

Sildenafil is used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in both adult and pediatric patients.

Institute for Institute for Safe Medication Practices, Horsham, PA

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) incorporates the anti-discrimination provisions of various federal laws, including discrimination on the basis of disability.

David B. Brushwood, BSPharm, JD

Immunization recommendations are complex, change frequently, and can be difficult to implement. Each year, ACIP recommendations and updates are summarized and consolidated into an immunization schedule to support health care providers with putting the recommendations into practice.

Jean-Venable “Kelly” R. Goode, PharmD

Pharmacists at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy demonstrated the value and efficacy of a pharmacist-led continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) clinic in a March 23, 2024, JAPhA article.

Sonya Collins

How does a pharmacist tell a patient who she’s been seeing for the past 12 years—a patient who gives hugs on almost every encounter—that they can no longer serve her?

Loren Bonner

In the last 20 years, the proportion of the U.S. adults who are obese has risen from just over 30% to nearly 42%.

Sonya Collins

Updates from FDA

The long-term use of ß-blockers in patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) who undergo early coronary angiography and have a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction may not lower the risk of death or a new MI as previously believed, revealed a study published in the April 18, 2024, issue of NEJM.

Lauren Howell, PharmD
 

An April 4, 2024, review article in NEJM noted that patients with T1D are facing an added medical challenge: the increased risk of CVD that accompanies a T1D diagnosis. 

Elizabeth Briand

Most pharmacists were taught that ADHD is associated with increased risks of adverse health outcomes, including premature death.

Lauren Howell, PharmD

Patients who come into a clinic at San Francisco Health Network (SFHN) can see fresh food displayed in a designated area.

Loren Bonner

Cerumen, or earwax, consists of a mixture of sebum, an oily secretion from the exocrine glands, and a milky, fatty fluid from the apocrine glands. It’s a naturally occurring substance that cleans, protects, and lubricates the ear canal. But when too much cerumen is present or becomes impacted, it can cause pain and itching.

Mary Warner

Shilajit supplements are sold as a superfood support for focus, memory, energy, performance, recovery, and strength. What is shilajit and does it really boost vitality?

Mickie Cathers

In March 2024, FDA approved the first treatment option for adults with liver scarring due to fatty liver disease. Rezdiffra (resmetirom-Madrigal Pharmaceuticals) provides an option for patients with liver scarring, who previously did not have a medication option that would address liver damage.

Lauren Howell, PharmD

Nitazenes, a group of powerful illicit synthetic opioids derived from 2-benzylbenzimidazole, are increasingly turning up in overdose deaths across the country.

Loren Bonner

Although β-blockers are associated with decreased mortality in patients with CVD, some patients with COPD who received metoprolol in the BLOCK-COPD trial experienced increased risk of exacerbations requiring hospitalization, raising questions about the overall risk and benefit in patients with COPD following acute myocardial infarction (MI).

Researchers assessed the diagnostic accuracy of commonly recommended tests and algorithms for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), a severe and potentially life-threatening complication resulting from heparin administration, characterized by a reduction in platelet count and an increased risk of thrombosis.

Aiya Almogaber, PharmD

In March 2024, the International Antiviral Society–USA (IAS-USA) guidelines panel issued a letter to JAMA to provide an updated HIV treatment recommendation for use of long-acting injectable cabotegravir and rilpivirine (CAB-RPV). 

Olivia C. Welter, PharmD

FDA approved seven next-generation gram-negative antibiotics between 2014 and 2019. Yet a study published in the May 2024 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine found that between 2016 and 2021, clinicians in 619 U.S. hospitals treated more than 40% of patients who had highly antibiotic-resistant pathogens exclusively with older, generic agents. Furthermore, most of these older agents had known suboptimal safety and/or efficacy.

Terri D’Arrigo

Human trafficking is a federal crime that has been defined as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.” The most vulnerable victims are typically women and children; however, victims can be any age and gender.

Laura Palombi, PharmD, MPH, MAT

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