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American Academy of Pain Medicine
6, Apr 2010Once-Daily Extended-Release Morphine Sulfate Beneficial for Low Back Pain
Speaker: Richard L. Rauck, MD, Medical Director, The Center for Clinical Research, LLC; Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Once-daily extended-release (ER) morphine sulfate (Avinza, Ligand) proved superior to twice-a-day, controlled-release oxycodone HCl (OxyContin, Purdue Pharma) for chronic, moderate-to-severe low back pain in patients naive [...]
- In: Main
- Tags: American Academy, Pain Medicine
Medicare Update: Into the Doughnut Hole part 2
19, Mar 2010All prescription plans are required to offer Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services. Although MTM is aimed at optimizing therapy, including the efficient and effective use of medications, this service, unfortunately, is limited to the following Medicare beneficiaries:
those who are taking multiple medications.
those who have multiple chronic diseases.
those who are likely to incur expenditures of more [...]
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- Tags: Medicare Update
Medicare Update: Into the Doughnut Hole
18, Mar 2010The so-called “doughnut hole” in Medicare’s Part D prescription drug benefit is a difficult concept for many people to understand. The term raises such questions as these: What are the exact out-of-pocket requirements? When and where does this doughnut hole begin and end?
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- Tags: Medicare Update
Problem: A 31-year-old man died after being injected with the wrong contrast medium during an outpatient myelogram (spinal radiography). Myelography is safely performed when non-ionic water-soluble radiographic agents are used, as indicated for this route of administration. However, the intrathecal misadministra-tion of ionic contrast media can result in a syndrome of spasms and convulsions, often [...]
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- Tags: Intrathecal Injection
Goodbye, Larry
10, Mar 2010My first conversation with Larry Prescott took place on February 5, 2001, just four days after I took over as editor of P&T. I don’t remember much about the discussion, and the yellow sticky note summarizing our phone call was brief and matter-of-fact—probably much like the conversation itself. My chicken scratch says: “Amer Coll Cardiol, [...]
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- Tags: Larry Prescott
Anticonvulsant mood stabilizers such as valproic acid (divalproex [Depakote medication, Abbott]) have long been used to treat BDD, especially in patients with agitation, aggression, mood lability, disinhibition, and manic-like symptoms. Studies of valproic acid have revealed a mixed picture.
- In: Main
- Tags: Pharmacological Management
Pharmacological Management Of Behavioral Disturbance in Dementia: Atypical Antipsychotic Agents
26, Feb 2010The atypical (”second-generation”) antipsychotic agents were introduced beginning in the 1990s and have largely supplanted the older, typical antipsychotic medications. The older drugs such as haloperidol decanoate (Haldol, Ortho-McNeil) and generic chlorpromazine (Thorazine tablet, GlaxoSmithKline) caused parkinsonian side effects (e.g., rigidity and tremor). The designation “atypical” refers to the relative lack of these extrapyramidal side [...]
- In: Main
- Tags: Pharmacological Management