Cantonal opioid agonist treatment authorisation systems - a mixed-method qualitative investigation.

Background And Aim: In Switzerland, a cantonal authorisation is required to introduce opioid agonist treatments (OAT). We investigated and compared the terms of these cantonal OAT authorisations throughout Switzerland. The primary objective was to determine how the overseeing cantonal officials implemented and perceived the legal requirements.

[Benzodiazepines and elderly : challenges of prescribing and deprescribing].

The elderly represent a group at risk of receiving problematic benzodiazepine (BZD) prescriptions in terms of duration or dose. The objective of this article is to investigate the difficulties related to the initial prescription, renewal, and withdrawal of BZDs in two university hospitals in French-speaking Switzerland. Specifically, we studied the actual use and perceived usefulness of clinical guidelines, the assignment of responsibilities among prescribers, and the assessment of public health risks.

[Therapeutic contracts and opioid agonist treatments: legally and ethically questionable].

In Switzerland, the use of « therapeutic contracts » in the implementation of opioid agonist treatments (OAT) is frequently recommended or even imposed. These documents raise legal and ethical issues, which are presented in this article. The authors recommend that this practice be abandoned.

[Driving under the influence…].

Prescribing medicines containing controlled substances (SSC : narcotics and psychotropic substances) can have legal consequences as per the Road Traffic Act. We set forth the physician's duties as well as the risks incurred by the patient. We recommend that rules regarding SSC, which can influence the capacity or the ability to drive, be clarified.

Switzerland's Dependence on a Diamorphine Monopoly.

In 2021, the manufacturer of diamorphine reported a possible impending shortage for Switzerland and Germany. This led us to investigate this controlled medicine's manufacture, market, and regulatory constraints. Based on our analysis of legal texts and gray literature in the form of reports and documents, we propose recommendations to prevent and address diamorphine shortages in Switzerland.

Switzerland's Narcotics Regulation Jungle: Off-Label Use, Counterfoil Prescriptions, and Opioid Agonist Therapy in the French-Speaking Cantons.

The word "narcotic" is often first associated with "illicit drugs". Yet, many "narcotic" and psychotropic substances are, in fact, medicines. Controlled medicines (CM) are products that meet the legal definition of both a "narcotic" under the Swiss Narcotics Act and of a medicine under the Therapeutic Products Act.

The targeted delivery of interleukin-12 to the carcinoembryonic antigen increases the intratumoral density of NK and CD8 T cell in an immunocompetent mouse model of colorectal cancer.

The recent success achieved by immune checkpoint inhibitors in the field of immuno-oncology has been less evident for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. To date, cancer immunotherapy has been efficacious only in few patients bearing high mutational burden (less than 25%) mCRCs. In this Communication, we report the generation of a novel antibody cytokine fusion protein (termed Sm3E-mIL12) targeting the CRC-associated carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA).

DNA unchained: two assays to discover and study inhibitors of the DNA clustering function of barrier-to-autointegration factor.

The protein barrier-to-autointegration factor (BAF) and its interaction partners, the LEM (LAP2B, emerin, MAN1)-domain proteins, constitute a powerful cytoplasmic DNA defense mechanism. Invading DNA molecules are quickly bound by the BAF system and trapped in membrane compartments. This decreases the nuclear uptake of DNA from the cytoplasm.