The Perspectives of Community Pharmacists Toward the Name-Based Rationing System During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

Background: In Taiwan's public health system, community-based pharmacists are key first-line health care providers due to their high accessibility. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the pharmacists played a central role in the distribution of these supplies through the Name-Based Rationing System (NBRS), during an acute shortage of masks and testing kits, that helped reduce the spread of the disease. The NBRS, an innovative government-guided strategy developed after the COVID-19 outbreak, provided equitable and convenient access to masks and COVID-19 test kits.

Major adverse cardiovascular events' reduction and their association with glucose-lowering medications and glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes: A retrospective cohort study using electronic health records.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are a common cause of death among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) risks can be significantly reduced under adequate glycemic control (GC). This study aims to identify factors that influence MACE risk among patients with T2DM, including Hemoglobin A1c variability score (HVS) and early use of MACE-preventive glucose-lowering medications (GLMs).

Cannabinoid Awareness, Reporting Use to Health Care Providers, and Perceptions Regarding Safety - Pennsylvania, March 2023-April 2023.

Introduction: With the continued societal and policy interest in cannabinoids, the Penn State Harrisburg Center for Survey Research (CSR) conducted a web survey (Cannabinoid Lion Poll) for adult-aged Pennsylvanians between March 6 and April 2, 2023.

Methods: The Lion Poll omnibus survey asked questions of adult-aged Pennsylvanians to assess awareness of cannabidiol (CBD) and products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), including marijuana, the likelihood of reporting cannabinoid use to health care providers (HCPs), and perceptions regarding safety.

Results: Of these 1,045 respondents, 51.

Utility of a bone health clinic in bridging the osteoporosis care gap: Prescribing habit review at an academic institution.

Objective: To analyze osteoporosis medication prescribing trends across specialties in the context of a Bone Health Clinic.

Introduction: Osteoporosis affects over 10 million adults in the US, taking a significant toll on patients and the healthcare system. Although screening methods and treatments are improving, the disease remains underdiagnosed and undertreated.

Systematic review of drug-drug interactions of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, and .

Background: The recent exponential increase in legalized medical and recreational cannabis, development of medical cannabis programs, and production of unregulated over-the-counter products (e.g., cannabidiol (CBD) oil, and delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8-THC)), has the potential to create unintended health consequences.

CANNabinoid Drug Interaction Review (CANN-DIR™).

Non-prescription cannabidiol (CBD) and medical marijuana (cannabis) currently do not have US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved prescribing information nor a dedicated resource to evaluate potential cannabinoid drug-drug interactions with other medications. The CANNabinoid Drug Interaction Review (CANN-DIR™) is a free web-based platform that has been developed to screen for potential drug-drug interactions from the perspective of how a cannabinoid delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), CBD, or a combination of THC/CBD may affect the metabolism of another prescribed medication. CANN-DIR™ is based on FDA-approved prescribing information for the prescription cannabinoids (dronabinol, nabilone, nabiximols, and prescription CBD) and other FDA-approved prescribing information for medications sharing similar metabolic enzymes (e.

Drug-drug interaction between dexamethasone and direct-acting oral anticoagulants: a nested case-control study in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C).

Objective: The goal of this work is to evaluate if there is an increase in the risk of thromboembolic events (TEEs) due to concomitant exposure to dexamethasone and apixaban or rivaroxaban. Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), as well as corticosteroid dexamethasone, are commonly used to treat individuals hospitalised with COVID-19. Dexamethasone induces cytochrome P450-3A4 enzyme that also metabolises DOACs apixaban and rivaroxaban.

Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol Drug-Drug Interactions.

Although prescribing information (PI) is often the initial source of information when identifying potential drug-drug interactions, it may only provide a limited number of exemplars or only reference a class of medications without providing any specific medication examples. In the case of medical cannabis and medicinal cannabinoids, this is further complicated by the fact that the increased therapeutic use of marijuana extracts and cannabidiol oil will not have regulatory agency approved PI. The objective of this study was to provide a detailed and comprehensive drug-drug interaction list that is aligned with cannabinoid manufacturer PI.

Comparison of Osteoporosis Pharmacotherapy Fracture Rates: Analysis of a MarketScan Claims Database Cohort.

Background: Several different classes of medications have been shown to be efficacious at preventing fractures in patients with osteoporosis. No study has compared real world efficacy at preventing fractures between all currently approved medications.

Objectives: To directly compare the efficacy of all currently available osteoporosis medications by using a large population claims database.

Use of Chronic Medications Among Patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation.

Background: Frequency of administration (once daily versus more than once daily) is believed to be an important consideration affecting drug choice.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) and the extent to which they take chronic medications, other than anticoagulants, more frequently than once daily.

Methods: Using data from a large, national database of health insurance claims, patients with a diagnosis of NVAF between 1 July 2008 and 30 September 2011 were identified, along with their prescription medications, to determine the proportion of patients taking chronic medications more than once a day.

Prasterone.

Purpose: The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, adverse effects and toxicities, drug interactions, dosage and administration, and safety issues related to the use of prasterone are discussed.

Summary: Prasterone is a proprietary synthetic dehydroepiandrosterone product under investigation for use in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who are taking glucocorticoids. Initial trials investigated prasterone as a treatment to improve disease activity and symptoms in women with mild to moderate SLE.