On March 22, 2013 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced approval of a new drug to treat a lung infection common in patients with cystic fibrosis. The drug, Tobi Podhaler (tobramycin inhalation powder) is approved for use in cystic fibrosis patients with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. P. aeruginosa is a bacterium that causes lung infections, which […]
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is offering three free tools for pharmacists to use in monitoring and promoting drug safety. The three tools include consumer leaflets for high alert medications, High-Alert Medication Modeling and Error-Reduction Scorecards (HAMMERS), and a system to assess barcode verification system readiness in community pharmacies. High-Alert Medications Consumer Leaflets […]
On March 12, 2013 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a drug safety warning about the popular oral antibiotic azithromycin, which goes by the trade names Zithromax or Zmax. The FDA warned that azithromycin can cause abnormal changes in the electrical activity of the heart that may lead to a potentially fatal irregular […]
On March 11, 2013 the journal Cancer, a peer reviewed scientific publication, announced findings from a newly published study showing that aspirin may lower the risk of melanoma among women. The study was an observational trial design, and it looked at the risk of melanoma in nearly 60,000 post-menopausal Caucasian women. The women entering the […]