Efficacy and cost of single-dose rasburicase in prevention and treatment of adult tumour lysis syndrome: a meta-analysis.

What Is Known And Objective: Single-dose rasburicase for the treatment and prevention of hyperuricaemia in adult and paediatric patients with cancer at high risk of tumour lysis syndrome (TLS) has been widely adopted in pharmacy practice as unlabelled use with limited clinical evidence. This meta-analysis study evaluated the efficacy and cost savings of a single-dose rasburicase (SDR) regimen compared with the Food and Drug Administration-approved daily dosing of rasburicase (DDR) for 5 days or the traditional treatment with allopurinol in adult cancer patients with hyperuricaemia or at high risk for TLS.

Methods: Prospective and retrospective studies were retrieved from a systemic search of major electronic data sources.

Multiple Determinants of Specific Modes of Prescription Opioid Diversion.

Numerous national surveys and surveillance programs have shown a substantial rise in the abuse of prescription opioids over the past 15 years. Accessibility of these drugs to non-patients is the result of their unlawful channeling from legal sources to the illicit marketplace (diversion). Empirical data on diversion remain absent from the literature.

Age of Sexual Initiation, Psychiatric Symptoms, and Sexual Risk Behavior among Ecstasy and LSD Users in Porto Alegre, Brazil: A Preliminary Analysis.

Ecstasy and LSD use is widespread in large Brazilian cities, but there is limited information on their use among young, middle-class, club goers in Brazil. We conducted standardized face-to-face interviews with 200 male and female ecstasy and/or LSD users, focusing on drug use and sexual history, current risk behaviors, and psychiatric symptomatology. Participants with early sexual debut (before 14) were more likely to report lifetime use of marijuana and powder and crack cocaine than those with later sexual initiation.

Patterns of prescription opioid abuse and comorbidity in an aging treatment population.

Very little is known about the impact of age and gender on drug abuse treatment needs. To examine this, we recruited 2,573 opioid-dependent patients, aged from 18 to 75 years, entering treatment across the country from 2008 to 2010 to complete a self-administered survey examining drug use histories and the extent of comorbid psychiatric and physical disorders. Moderate to very severe pain and psychiatric disorders, including polysubstance abuse, were present in a significant fraction of 18- to 24-year-olds, but their severity grew exponentially as a function of age: 75% of those older than 45 years had debilitating pain and psychiatric problems.

Prescription Drug Abuse & Diversion: Role of the Pain Clinic.

The goal of this research is to better understand the role that South Florida pain management clinics may be playing in the abuse and diversion of prescription drugs. This study explores 1) the characteristics and practices of pain clinics that may be facilitating the drug-seeking endeavors of prescription drug abusers and 2) the drug-seeking behaviors of prescription drug abusers who use pain clinics as a primary source for drugs. Thirty in-depth interviews were conducted with prescription drug abusers in South Florida.