Erectile Dysfunction Tied To Long Term Painkiller Use
A new study suggests that long term use of opioid prescription painkillers for back pain is tied to a higher risk of erectile dysfunction (ED). The findings are published in the 15 May online issue of the journal Spine. Lead author Richard A...
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Survey Finds Patient Satisfaction Improved By Pharmacist-Directed Anticoagulation Service
As hospitals look for ways to improve patient satisfaction and boost their Medicare reimbursement, a Henry Ford Hospital study found that an inpatient pharmacist-directed anticoagulation service (PDAS) might be an unexpected opportunity...
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First Drop In US Drug Spending In Six Years
Total per capita spending on drugs in the USA fell 3.5% in 2012, there were fewer non-emergency hospital admissions and doctor office visits, and prescription use went down by 0.1 percent, according to a new report issued by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. The report - Declining Medicine Use and Costs: For Better or Worse? - informed that $325...
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Tylenol Can Ease Anxiety Over Fear Of Dying
An over-the-counter pain reliever can also be used to deal with existential worry - anxiety that comes from thinking about death - according to new research from the University of British Columbia...
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Walgreens Pharmacy Extends Care To Treat Chronic Illnesses
Walgreens - a well known neighborhood pharmacy in the U.S. - has announced it will now expand its services to chronic care in the majority of its in-store clinics. Currently, Walgreens has 370 Take Care Clinics that were set up to treat minor medical issues when consumers are unable to make an appointment with a doctor, or to receive flu shots...
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Drug Shortages Erode The Quality And Increase The Cost Of Cancer Care
A national survey of health professionals showed that drug shortages are taking a heavy toll on cancer patients, forcing treatment changes and delays that for some patients meant worse outcomes, more therapy-related complications and higher costs. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators played an important role in the study...
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Unreported Drug Side Effects Found In Web Search Data
User behavior on the internet is increasingly being recognized as a valuable source of health information. Now a team from Stanford University School of Medicine and Microsoft Research has shown how mining rich seams of data from users' search histories yields important information on the unreported side effects of drugs...
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Generics Hold Cost Of Medicines In Check For America Even As Specialty Drug Prices Soar
GPhA Warns Against Legislative Efforts to Undermine Savings For the first time in 20 years, the cost of treating common ailments like high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure dropped in 2012 due to the increased availability of lower priced generic prescription drugs. A report released earlier this week by pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Inc...
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Antimicrobial Resistance Poses Grave Threat
The topic of antimicrobial resistance needs to be addressed - in 20 years it could result in death following minor surgery - according to the annual report by the Chief Medical Officer in the England. The warning comes as a part of the report giving an extensive overview of the antimicrobial resistance threat and infectious diseases...
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Clinical Pharmacist-Led Free Online Monitoring Program Helps Reduce Blood Pressure
People with high blood pressure enrolled in a clinical pharmacist-led web-based monitoring program were more likely to lower their pressure to recommended level than people who did not use the program. The study was published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The study, led by David J. Magid, M.D., M.P.H...
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Veterans Diagnosed With Reflux Issues Often Start On High Doses Of Drugs, Rarely Stop Therapy
U.S. veterans diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are frequently prescribed doses of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), such as omeprazole (commonly known by brand names such as Prilosec), that are much higher than recommended --- and they are kept on the drug far too long, according to a new Northwestern Medicine® study...
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Opioid Analgesics Involved In Most Pharmaceutical Overdose Deaths
"Data recently released by the National Center for Health Statistics show drug overdose deaths increased for the 11th consecutive year in 2010. Pharmaceuticals, especially opioid analgesics, have driven this increase. Other pharmaceuticals are involved in opioid overdose deaths, but their involvement is less well characterized," writes Christopher M. Jones, Pharm.D...
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Prescription Drug Abuse A Serious Public Health Issue
Prescription drug abuse is just behind marijuana as the United States' most widespread drug issue, with 22 million people beginning use of non-medical pain alleviating drugs since 2002, according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)...
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Differences In Generic Pill Characteristics May Lead To Interruptions In Essential Medication Use
Generic medications currently account for over 70 percent of prescriptions dispensed. However, while generic drugs are clinically bioequivalent to the brand-name version, they often differ in their physical characteristics, such as color and shape...
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Difference In Pill Color May Affect Patient's Adherence
Generic medications are biologically identical to their brand-name counterparts, however, their physical traits, like shape or color, usually differ. Patients who take generic drugs that differ in color are 50 percent more likely to stop the intake of the drug, producing possible negative reactions, according to a new study by Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH)...
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Hepatitis C Drug May Cause Fatal Skin Reactions
The oral hepatitis C drug telaprevir (Incivek) will now come with a boxed warning regarding the potentially fatal severe skin reactions that may occur in patients. Vertex Pharmaceuticals stated that there have been reports of fatal cases in patients with a continuous rash and systemic symptoms who kept taking INCIVEK combination treatment after recognizing a severe skin reaction...
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Buying Drugs Online Can Be Very Risky
The number of people buying prescription drugs online without a prescription is increasing significantly, according to a report by Pfizer and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Over the past few years, several websites have been popping up selling prescription drugs to people that have access to the Internet, as an "easy" way for people to buy drugs...
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Medication Reconciliation Critical To Patient Care, Reducing Medication Mismanagement
Medication reconciliation is a safety practice in which health care professionals review patients' medication regimens when patients transition between settings to reduce the likelihood of adverse drug effects. It is among the most complex clinical tasks required of physicians, nurses and pharmacists, who must work cooperatively to minimize discrepancies and inappropriate medication orders...
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Adherence Disparities To Hypertension Meds May Be Reduced By Low Copays, Mail-Order Pharmacies
New research suggests that making prescription refills more affordable and easier to get may reduce disparities among hypertension patients. An analysis of more than 44,000 patients recently diagnosed with high blood pressure in Kaiser Permanente Northern California identified important differences in medicine-taking behaviors among racial and ethnic groups...
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Interactions Increasing Between Medications And Grapefruit
The number of prescription drugs that can have serious adverse effects from interactions with grapefruit are markedly increasing, yet many physicians may be unaware of these effects, states an article published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)...
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Medication Adherence Increased By Automated Phone And Mail Notices
Patients newly prescribed a cholesterol-lowering medication were more likely to pick it up from the pharmacy if they received automated phone and mail reminders, according to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. This is one of a few published studies to examine strategies for reducing primary nonadherence, which occurs when patients do not pick up new prescriptions...
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Grapefruit Mixed With Prescription Drugs Can Be Deadly
Many prescription drugs have severe side effects when they are mixed with grapefruit, and the number of these medications is rapidly growing, however, doctors are often unaware of the side effects, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ)...
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Canadians Hope To Benefit From Competitive Generic Drug Prices
The commitment of Canadian premiers to lower generic drug prices is a major change in how the country prices generic drugs, and government should learn from past attempts, states an article published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Generic drug prices are higher in Canada than in other industrialized countries...
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Pharmacists May Not Know That Medications Have Been Discontinued
More than 85,000 medications are discontinued each year by physicians, yet while physicians share this information with their patients, it is too often not shared with the pharmacists...
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What Is Echinacea? What Are The Benefits Of Echinacea?
Echinacea is a very popular herb, especially for the treatment of flu and colds. It is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family - Asteraceae. It is also known as the American coneflower. Echinacea was commonly used by Native Americans for hundreds of years before the arrival of European explorers, settlers and colonizers...
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