Evaluation of a Nationwide Pharmacist-Led Phone Outreach Program to Improve Osteoporosis Management in Older Women with Recently Sustained Fractures.

Background: Osteoporosis-related fractures are a considerable economic burden on the U.S. health care system.

Idiosyncratic reactions and metabolism of sulfur-containing drugs.

Introduction: Idiosyncratic drug reactions (IDRs) that involve the formation of toxic metabolites followed by covalent binding to cellular proteins often go undiscovered until after post-marketing. The goal of this article is to review the current status of IDRs, potential mechanisms and the challenges associated with predicting drug toxicity.

Areas Covered: The authors review the metabolic pathways of five select classes of sulfur-containing drugs (captopril, troglitazone, tienilic acid, zileuton, methimazole and sudoxicam) suggesting that bioactivation plays a crucial role in the occurrence of IDRs.