Pharmacology News

The FDA designated a drug-device combination for periprosthetic joint infection in hip and knee replacement patients as a breakthrough therapy, which may accelerate its approval, the manufacturer said.

In adults with hypertension and at least one CHD risk factor followed for up to 23 years, three antihypertensive medications did not differ in CVD mortality, according to long-term results of the ALLHAT trial.

Despite population-wide improvements in use of lipid-lowering medication and cholesterol control since 1999, significant racial and ethnic disparities persist among patients with a history of atherosclerotic CVD, researchers reported.

An outpatient antibiotic stewardship bundle initiative reduced unnecessary antibiotic prescribing for respiratory infections without increasing repeat health care contacts, a recent study showed.

Moxidectin was noninferior to ivermectin for patients with strongyloidiasis, according to data published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

One in four adults relied solely on medications to manage chronic pain, highlighting an opportunity to increase use of nonpharmacologic therapies, particularly in men, older adults and those with public insurance, according to researchers.

PHILADELPHIA — Automatic referrals of eligible patients not already prescribed statins to a centralized pharmacy service via email increased prescriptions of any statin by 16 percentage points compared with usual care, a speaker reported.

Inappropriate antibiotic treatment for asymptomatic bacteriuria is common in critical access hospitals, researchers reported.

Injections of botulinum toxin were associated with greater improvements in isolated and essential head tremor at 18 weeks compared with placebo, according to data from a randomized trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

FDA has eliminated the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) programs for Lotronex (alosetron hydrochloride) and approved generics.