Know your medicine: A novel student-led community service learning program.

Introduction: The objective of this article is to describe the efforts of the student pharmacist organization called Know Your Medicine (KYM) as they conduct medication therapy management (MTM) for older adults and underserved communities.

Methods: Patients brought medications, immunization records, and health concerns to KYM events during academic years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. Student pharmacists performed health screenings, created personalized medication records (PMR), made recommendations, created personal action plans (PAP), and conducted follow-up phone calls.

New options in herpes management.

Herpesviruses in the alpha group--HSV-1, HSV-2, and VZV (i.e., HSV-3)--are ubiquitous in American society.

Drug utilization review of sedative/hypnotic agents in Texas Medicaid patients. Texas Medicaid Vendor Drug Program Drug Utilization Review Board.

Objective: To assess use of sedative/hypnotic agents in Texas Medicaid patients and evaluate practitioner receptiveness to intervention letters concerning sedative/hypnotic prescribing generated by the Texas Medicaid Drug Utilization Review (DUR) Board.

Design: Retrospective DUR.

Setting: Texas Medicaid retrospective DUR program.

Sexually transmitted diseases: an update.

Although the 1993 CDC treatment guidelines for STDs contained relatively few changes from the 1989 guidelines, some recently marketed medications now appear in the list of recommended and alternative treatment regimens. Pharmacists must consider differences in dosage formulations (intramuscular versus oral), cost, and length of treatment when choosing the antibiotic or antiviral to be listed in a hospital or managed care formulary. Additionally, pharmacists should recognize that some STD therapies are now given once daily instead of in a 7-day course.

Drug information quality assurance program used to appraise students' performance.

A quality assurance program developed for a drug information service was used to objectively measure the performance of doctor of pharmacy degree students on rotation in the service. Two five-point rating scales based on objective criteria were developed so that judgmental and nonjudgmental drug information responses could be evaluated separately. Preceptors used the scales to evaluate 30 randomly selected responses from each of 22 Pharm.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most widely used medications today. Although their exact mechanism of action is unclear, inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis contributes significantly to their analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and antiplatelet effects. In recent years, additional mechanisms of action have been proposed for NSAIDs, and these may explain the variability commonly noted in patient response and tolerability to individual NSAIDs.

Improving access to computer-based library and drug information services in patient-care areas.

A project to increase access to drug and biomedical information through electronic linkage of drug information and library services to three patient-care areas is described. In February 1987, microcomputer work stations were installed in the Bexar County Hospital District's hospital emergency department, medical residents' office, and ambulatory-care clinic, as well as in The University of Texas Health Science Center's library reference area and drug information service office. Drug information was available on compact disk through the Micromedex Computerized Clinical Information System (CCIS) database, which includes DRUGDEX, POISINDEX, EMERGINDEX, and IDENTIDEX.

Administration guidelines for parenteral drug therapy. Part II: Adult patients.

This two-part review covers the specifics of intravenous dosing of medications as they pertain to pediatric and adult patients. Part I provides the complete introduction and references used for both parts (Journal of Pharmacy Technology 1989; 5:101-27).

P & T committee review of misoprostol: prevention of NSAID side effects is key--roundtable discussion.

Misoprostol, a prostaglandin of the E series, was recently introduced for the prevention of NSAID-induced gastric ulcers. Misoprostol was classified as "1A" (denoting a new chemical entity that is a significant therapeutic advance) for purposes of review priority by the Food and Drug Administration in 1988. A dosage of 200 micrograms qid is recommended for prophylaxis, for the duration of NSAID therapy.

Prospective cost analysis of moxalactam versus clindamycin plus gentamicin for endomyometritis after cesarean section.

The direct and indirect costs associated with either moxalactam or clindamycin plus gentamicin as treatment for endomyometritis after emergent cesarean section were compared in an open, randomized prospective trial of 114 patients. A total of 58 patients were assigned to receive moxalactam, 2 g intravenously (i.v.

Adverse effects of hypolipidaemic drugs.

Cholestyramine, colestipol, clofibrate, gemfibrozil, nicotinic acid (niacin), probucol, neomycin, and dextrothyroxine are the most commonly used drugs in the treatment of hyperlipoproteinaemic disorders. While adverse reaction data are available for all of them, definitive data regarding the frequency and severity of potential adverse effects from well-controlled trials using large numbers of patients (greater than 1000) are available only for cholestyramine, clofibrate, nicotinic acid and dextrothyroxine. In adult patients treated with cholestyramine, gastrointestinal complaints, especially constipation, abdominal pain and unpalatability are most frequently observed.

Induction of hemolytic anemia by nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs.

The incidence of immune hemolytic anemia (IHA) is increasing. The proliferation of pharmaceuticals is a contributing factor to this increase. IHA is an uncommon, though significant, adverse effect of a wide variety of drugs.

Program coordinated by a drug information service to improve adverse drug reaction reporting in a hospital.

A program coordinated by a drug information service to improve adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting in a hospital is described. At a 520-bed teaching hospital, the drug information service was asked to design a new adverse drug reaction reporting system that would encourage clinicians to report ADRs. A new system was implemented on a general medical unit: A physician, pharmacist, or nurse telephoned the drug information service when an adverse drug reaction was suspected, and drug information personnel followed up on the report, completing all subsequent investigation and documentation.

Comparison of three algorithms used to evaluate adverse drug reactions.

The consistency of three algorithms in evaluating adverse drug reactions (ADRs) was studied. As part of a hospital's ADR protocol, doctor of pharmacy students were required to collect and summarize all ADR data. Algorithms by Kramer, Naranjo, and Jones were used to evaluate all ADRs between January and May 1984.

Update and review of chemonucleolysis.

To update the status of chymopapain in the treatment of herniated intervertebral discs, a review of the current literature and data from an unpublished Texas study are presented. Studies in animals and humans have consistently demonstrated that chymopapain can dissolve the nucleus pulposus. Twenty-eight uncontrolled and unblinded clinical trials involving 2845 patients showed a positive response rate of 75%.