Pharmacology News

The implementation of a mandatory prescription drug monitoring program led to an immediate decrease in opioid prescribing in three surgical specialties, according to findings published in JAMA Health Forum.

Adding a new medication to older adults’ antihypertension treatment regimen produced a slightly greater reduction in systolic BP than maximizing dosage, according to findings published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Primary care physicians more often prescribed opioids for low back pain to white patients than patients of historically underrepresented groups, according to findings published in JAMA Health Forum.

Among patients with diabetes, those who used statins were significantly more likely to experience diabetes progression than those who did not use statins, a retrospective matched-cohort study showed.

WHO has updated its Model Lists of Essential Medicines and Essential Medicines for Children, adding 20 medicines for adults and 17 for children in addition to new uses for 28 previously listed medicines.

Molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral drug, significantly reduced the risk for hospitalization or death from COVID-19 among high-risk patients, according to a company press release.

Patients in primary care practices who “felt well enough” to stop certain antidepressants — and did so — were at higher risk for relapse of depression by 52 weeks compared with those who continued therapy, researchers wrote.

Communicating via electronic medical records to notify pharmacies of discontinued medications may reduce potential safety events and costs, a speaker reported.

Medical cannabis dispensary workers such as budtenders, managers and pharmacists often made recommendations on cannabis use to customers based on their personal or coworkers’ experience, according to findings published in JAMA Network Open.

The FDA has authorized booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people at high risk from the disease.