Pharmacology News

ORLANDO — Physicians, nurses and patients must be vigilant when attempting to navigate the often contradictory, seemingly “confused system” of laws and labels associated with medical cannabis and cannabidiol – more widely known as CBD – according to a presenter at the 2019 Rheumatology Nurses Society Annual Meeting.

Researchers found a dose-dependent association between antibiotic use in infancy and the development of asthma in childhood, regardless of the type of antibiotic administered or the timing of the prescription, according to study results published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The researchers reported that the odds of future asthma diagnoses increased with each additional antibiotic prescription.

Medicare could have saved nearly 90% of spending on angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-II-receptor blockers in 2016 and 2017 through generic substitute or therapeutic interchange, according to study results published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Children with complicated UTIs were safely and effectively treated with the combination antibiotic Avycaz compared with cefepime, according to findings from a phase 2 study published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.

In patients with atrial fibrillation, or AF, treated with direct oral anticoagulants, standardized perioperative management approaches were tied to lower rates of bleeding and stroke, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Transdermal estradiol was an effective add-on treatment for women with schizophrenia, particularly those aged older than 38 years, findings published in JAMA Psychiatry showed.

In patients aged 75 years of age or older taking statins for primary CVD prevention, discontinuing statin therapy was associated with a 33% increased risk for hospital admission for a CV event, researchers reported.

Competition between brands may not be effective in lowering drug prices in the United States, suggesting that significant structural reforms will be needed to address rapidly increasing drug prices, according to study findings published in PLOS Medicine.

Patients who take sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors may not have increased risks for severe or nonsevere UTIs compared with those taking other antidiabetic medications, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Research published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society suggests that a generic version of ledipasvir-sofosbuvir — marketed in the United States as Harvoni — is safe and effective for the treatment of teens with hepatitis C virus infection.