Counter sampling combined with medical provider education: do they alter prescribing behavior?

Objective: To observe if medical providers alter their prescribing patterns of three relatively expensive categories of medications provided as samples by manufacturers (focus medications) when they receive additional education from pharmacists concerning the appropriate use of lower cost alternatives (counter samples) that are made available to dispense.

Design: Pretest, post-test with a control group.

Setting: Two rural, private care clinics in southeastern Idaho providing immediate care services.

Nitazoxanide treatment for giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis in children.

Objective: To review the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, adverse effects, drug interactions, dosing recommendations, and clinical efficacy of nitazoxanide, a new antiprotozoal/anthelmintic/antibacterial agent.

Data Sources: A MEDLINE search (1966-February 2004) of both human and animal research data published in the English language was conducted.

Study Selection And Data Extraction: All primary and review articles pertaining to the MEDLINE search were reviewed for inclusion.