Lessons Learned in Developing and Testing a Methotrexate Case Study for Pharmacy Education.

This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a complex methotrexate ethics case used in teaching a Pharmacy Law and Ethics course. Qualitative analysis of student reflective writings provided useful insight into the students' experience and comfort level with the final ethics case in the course. These data demonstrate a greater student appreciation of different perspectives, the potential for conflict in communicating about such cases, and the importance of patient autonomy.

A qualitative analysis of student-written law and ethics cases: A snapshot of PY2 student experience.

Introduction: This study was designed to better understand pharmacy students' experiences and recognition of legal and ethical tensions existing in pharmacy practice as demonstrated in student-written law and ethics cases.

Methods: A qualitative analysis of 132 student-written cases representing the team efforts of 1053 students over a 12-year time period was conducted. Student-written cases were coded and analyzed thematically.

Pathway to pharmacist medical provider status in Washington State.

Objectives: To describe Washington State's successful legal and legislative efforts to gain pharmacist medical provider status and major medical compensation and to compare those efforts with similar efforts in other states to identify key lessons learned.

Summary: Washington State Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5557 was enacted in 2015, securing pharmacists as medical providers and requiring compensation under major medical insurance for pharmacists providing health services (Revised Code of Washington 48.43.

Clinical and demographic characteristics help explain variations in pain at the end of life.

The natural history of pain at the end of life is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to estimate the association between clinical and demographic characteristics and pain in persons who received hospice care in the United States. Data for this study were obtained from a national provider of hospice pharmacy services and included information about the hospice and person receiving hospice care, including geographic location, primary diagnoses, pain intensity, and opioid analgesic use.

Characterization of prescribing errors in an internal medicine clinic.

Purpose: A pilot study was conducted to characterize the epidemiology of prescribing errors, comparing those that occurred pre- to postimplementation of an electronic prescribing system; this article describes the results of the study during the preimplementation phase, when a handwritten prescription process was still in place.

Summary: A retrospective review of 1411 prescriptions that were handwritten during a five-month time frame was used to identify and characterize medication errors and potential medication errors. The review was conducted in an internal medicine clinic in a large health system that was preparing to implement an electronic prescribing system.

Pain, demographics, and clinical characteristics in persons who received hospice care in the United States.

Pain in persons who receive hospice care is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to describe the demographics, clinical characteristics, and pain intensity of persons who received hospice care in the United States from 2000-2004. Data for this study were obtained from a provider of hospice pharmacy services and included information about the hospice organization, demographics and clinical characteristics, pain intensity, and opioid analgesic prescribing.

Student use of NABPLaw Online in a pharmacy laws project.

Objectives: To evaluate students' frequency of use and degree of usefulness of NABPLaw Online, a pharmacy-specific, online, licensed resource produced by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP).

Methods: Students usage of various information resources, including NABPLaw Online were evaluated through (1) usage statistics gathered by NABP, (2) students' response to a questionnaire, and (3) citation analysis performed on students' project reports.

Results: Students used NABPLaw Online less frequently than other online tools, partly related to the relevance of the tool to their projects, and partly related to ease of use in comparison to other tools.

Global epidemiology of hepatitis B virus.

The burden of hepatitis B virus (HBV) disease and efforts to control infection will determine the future size of the population requiring treatment of HBV infection. To quantify the current prevalence of HBV infection and to reexamine the epidemiology of HBV infection, a structured review was conducted that focused on available primary literature for over 30 countries worldwide. The prevalence of chronic HBV infection continues to be highly variable, ranging over 10% in some Asian and Western Pacific countries to under 0.

Neuroleptic drug exposure and incidence of tardive dyskinesia: a records-based case-control study.

Background: With the introduction of atypical neuroleptic medications into the marketplace, the use of conventional neuroleptics has fallen, attendant with the perception of a more favorable side-effect profile for the atypical neuroleptics.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the risk of tardive dyskinesia (TD) associated with atypical and conventional neuroleptics.

Methods: Subjects were adult users of the Veterans Administration Puget Sound Health Care System (VA-PSHCS) who received >or=1 prescription for neuroleptic medications during the study period.

Health services utilization with reference drug pricing of histamine(2) receptor antagonists in British Columbia elderly.

Background: In October 1995, British Columbia introduced a reference pricing policy for five therapeutic classes of drugs, including histamine(2) receptor antagonists (H(2)RAs), for beneficiaries of its prescription drug program, Pharmacare.

Objectives: To evaluate utilization trends in consumption of health services in a cohort of Pharmacare beneficiaries to determine if a worsening of health outcomes could be detected after implementation of the reference pricing policy.

Research Design: Two cohorts, "control" (21 months before the reference pricing policy) and "exposed" (at risk for policy effects), were followed for 21 months.