Erratum: St. Giuseppe Moscati: Doctor to the Poor.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1179/0024363913Z.00000000019.

Geographic variation in the prescription of schedule II opioid analgesics among outpatients in the United States.

Objective: To measure geographic variation in opioid use in a large, commercially insured, outpatient population in the United States.

Data Sources: Outpatient prescription drug claims database of a national pharmaceutical benefit manager for 7,873,337 subjects with at least one prescription drug claim in 2000.

Study Design: We measured the period prevalence of claims for opioid analgesics and controlled-release oxycodone at the state level.

The use of pejorative terms to describe patients: "Dirtball" revisited.

Background: The use of pejorative terms for patients is well documented. Reasons include frustration and anger in managing certain patients, fostering group solidarity among caregivers under stress, and the alleged "dehumanization" of medical training. Medical students were surveyed to document and understand the phenomenon.

Prevalence of atypical antipsychotic drug use among commercially insured youths in the United States.

Background: Use of atypical antipsychotic medications in pediatric populations is increasing. Although previous studies have presented data by age or sex, none has documented sex-specific prevalence by age group.

Objective: To estimate the 1-year prevalence of atypical antipsychotic use by age and sex among commercially insured youths in the United States.

Atypical antipsychotic drugs and diabetes mellitus in a large outpatient population: a retrospective cohort study.

Purpose: Previous research has suggested an association between use of atypical antipsychotics and onset of diabetes mellitus. We sought to compare the incidence of new onset diabetes among patients receiving atypical antipsychotics, traditional antipsychotics or antidepressants.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of outpatients with claims for atypical antipsychotics (n = 10 265) compared to controls with claims for traditional antipsychotics (n = 4607), antidepressants (n = 60 856) or antibiotics (n = 59 878) in the administrative claims database of a large pharmaceutical benefit manager between June 2000 and May 2002.

Inappropriate prescribing for elderly Americans in a large outpatient population.

Background: We sought to determine the extent of potentially inappropriate outpatient prescribing for elderly patients, as defined by the Beers revised list of drugs to be avoided in elderly populations.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the outpatient prescription claims database of a large, national pharmaceutical benefit manager. The cohort included 765,423 subjects 65 years or older, who were covered by a pharmaceutical benefit manager and filed 1 or more prescription drug claims during 1999.

Prescription of QT-prolonging drugs in a cohort of about 5 million outpatients.

Many drugs prolong the QT interval and increase the risk of torsade de pointes. Concurrent use of two or more of these drugs can further increase the risk, but the prevalence of concurrent prescription of QT-prolonging drugs is not known. Using the administrative claims database of a national pharmaceutical benefit manager, we conducted a retrospective cohort study in 4,825,345 subjects aged 18 years or older.