Pharmacists News

• ASH 2020 In MDS, Transplant Ups Survival in Elderly and May Be Reimbursed Transplants offer a chance for a cure in myelodysplastic syndrome, and are often offered to younger patients; new results show they increase survival in older patients too.
  Medscape Medical News, December 04, 2020
• PPE Shortage Crisis Continues at Most Hospitals, Survey Shows Nearly 3 in 4 infection prevention experts say facilities remain in crisis mode, with shortages of respirators, masks, face shields, and other personal protective equipment.
  Medscape Medical News, December 04, 2020
• SABCS 2020: What's Hot, Including a Major Chemotherapy Trial The world's largest breast cancer meeting starts this Tuesday online and, for the first time, features a community-based oncologist as a session chair.
  Medscape Medical News, December 04, 2020
• New CREDENCE Data Support SGLT2 Inhibitor Use in Advanced CKD 'We would not recommend initiating treatment with SGLT2 inhibitor in eGFR < 30 until results of the other pending trials are available,' but new CREDENCE data add to the evidence base, say investigators.
  Medscape Medical News, December 04, 2020
• COVID-19 Fuels Surge in Overdose-Related Cardiac Arrests Researchers urge investments in substance use treatment, harm reduction, and the structural drivers of overdose as core elements of the COVID-19 response.
  Medscape Medical News, December 04, 2020
• Healthcare Spending in 2020 May Drop, Reversing Growth Trend This is the first time spending has dropped year-over-year since the 1960s; however, the decrease will probably be small.
  Medscape Medical News, December 03, 2020
• Should CTCs Guide Treatment Choice in HR+, HER2– Breast Cancer? Trial results suggest circulating tumor cell (CTC) counts may be a reliable biomarker for guidingfirst-line treatment in patients with HR+, HER2– metastatic breast cancer.
  Medscape Medical News, December 03, 2020
• Feds Look to Pharmacists to Boost Childhood Immunization Federal officials are banking on pharmacists like Watson to undergo additional training and help reverse the slump in child immunization rates caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
  Kaiser Health News, December 03, 2020
• CVS Pilots Giving Eli Lilly's COVID-19 Antibody Drug at Patient's Home CVS Health Corp said on Wednesday it would administer Eli Lilly's experimental antibody treatment to COVID-19 patients in their homes and in long-term care facilities through a US government-backed pilot project.
  Reuters Health Information, December 02, 2020
• North Korea-Linked Hackers Targeted J&J, Novavax in Hunt for COVID Research Suspected North Korean hackers have recently tried to break into at least nine health organizations, including pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson and vaccine developer Novavax Inc, revealing a broader effort to target key players in the race to develop treatments for COVID-19.
  Reuters Health Information, December 02, 2020
• New Plan to Help Stratify Routine Diabetes Care During Pandemic Categorizing patients with diabetes as 'urgent', 'priority', and 'routine' prioritizes care during pandemic, but also could help improve future care after COVID-19, say British endocrinologists.
  Medscape Medical News, December 03, 2020
• FDA, Researchers Still in the Weeds on Cannabis, CBD, and Gender An FDA symposium underscores the complexities of regulation and research, particularly the lack of data among women, who are frequent users of CBD and cannabis therapies.
  Medscape Medical News, December 02, 2020
• Pembrolizumab 'Preferred Choice' in MSI-H/dMMR Metastatic CRC Compared with chemotherapy, pembrolizumab doubled progression-free survival and improved the overall response rate in this patient population.
  Medscape Medical News, December 02, 2020
• CDC Shortens COVID-19 Quarantine Time, With Conditions Citing new evidence and an acceptable risk, CDC officials announced two options for people to quarantine for less time after COVID-19 exposure.
  Medscape Medical News, December 02, 2020
• HIV Generic Drug for Babies to Be Rolled Out in Africa in 2021: Aid Agencies A strawberry-flavoured tablet for children living with HIV will be rolled out in African countries in 2021, the first generic pediatric version of a key anti-retroviral available even for babies, aid agencies said on Tuesday, World AIDS Day.
  Reuters Health Information, December 01, 2020
• Colchicine a Case Study for What's Wrong With US Drug Pricing A Medicare/Medicaid analysis shows a prolonged public-spending burden, despite generics available outside the United States for pennies a pill. Meanwhile, use widens from gout to MI, even COVID-19.
  Medscape Medical News, December 02, 2020
• 'Overwhelming Majority' Will Need COVID-19 Vaccine, Fauci Says 'If you want to be part of the solution, get vaccinated and say, 'I'm not going to be one of the people that is going to be a stepping stone for the virus to go to somebody else,'' Fauci said.
  WebMD Health News, December 02, 2020
• What to Do When Anticoagulation Fails Patients With Cancer When a patient with cancer develops venous thromboembolism despite anticoagulation, how to help them comes down to clinical judgment, according to hematologist Neil Zakai, MD.
  Medscape Medical News, December 02, 2020
• Noninvasive, Low Cost CGM for Type 2 Diabetes Coming in US and EU Neumara Medical's SugarBEAT device plus digital coaching aims to reverse, or at least better manage, type 2 diabetes and should be available soon in the US and Europe.
  Medscape Medical News, December 02, 2020
• FDA Approves First Agent for PSMA-PET Imaging in Prostate Cancer A new diagnostic agent, Gallium 68 PSMA-11, has been approved for institutional use in the PET imaging of PSMA-positive lesions in men with prostate cancer.
  FDA Approvals, December 02, 2020