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The Pharmacist’s News Source
pharmacypracticenews.com
Volume 37 • Number 10 • October 2010
Printer-friendly versions available online
1,000 deaths per year spur action
McMahon Publishing
in this issue
Anesthesiology Group Calls for Pharmacists To Boost OR Drug Safety
Up Front
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Operations & Mgmt
o improve patient safety in the operating room, a consensus conference convened by the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) has produced a series of recommendations that could eventually alter how perioperative anesthesia is conducted. Studies have indicated there is one anesthetic medication error in every 133 drugs administered. One in 250 of those errors is fatal. As a result, nearly 1,000 people die in the United States each year from anesthesia medication mistakes. The hope is that implementation of these new standards—one of which includes a more aggressive adoption of pharmacists in the operating room (OR)—will avert dangerous errors in the future. But the campaign to reduce these numbers might require some sacrifices from anesthesiologists.
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Capsules FDA expands warnings on contrast agents.
What motivates your staff? The answer may hold key to effective management.
Gaithersburg, Md.—Ceftaroline, a broad-spectrum cephalosporin with activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), has received an enthusiastic endorsement by the FDA’s AntiInfective Drugs Advisory Committee for the treatment of two indications: community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) and complicated skin and skin structure infection (cSSSI). The committee voted 21 to 0 in favor of ceftaroline for use in CABP and 18 to 0 in favor of its use in cSSSI. Both votes were unequivocal, with no abstentions. In its New Drug Application (NDA), the sponsor (Cerexa Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest Laboratories, Inc) presented data from two Phase III trials see CEFTAROLINE, page 44
Lit Review Affirms Impact Of Pharmacist Patient Care
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Practice Pearl Medication reconciliation: bringing nurses and pharmacists into the fold.
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Clinical
Transplant Medicine Texting, Web-based care plans and other drug compliance tools.
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Hem/Onc Pharmacy
Panel Urges Ceftaroline Approval for Pneumonia, Skin Structure Infections
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Results support larger role for the profession
Leadership in Action
see OR DRUG SAFETY, page 42
Unanimous vote for two indications
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Medical isotope shortage nearing end—for now.
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Cardiology Pretreatment with statins could be lifesaver for surgery patients.
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Educational Reviews
Anesthesia Information Management Systems: Clinical and Operational Impact 15 Managing GI Issues in the Rheumatology Patient on Chronic NSAID Therapy
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systematic review of nearly 300 studies demonstrates that pharmacistprovided care improves patient outcomes across several disease states in various settings and has a significant beneficial impact on the rate and severity of adverse drug events (ADEs). The review (Medicare Care 2010;48:923-933), led by Marie A. ChisholmBurns, PharmD, MPH, FASHP, professor and head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science at The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in Tucson, assessed the effect of pharmacists’ direct patient care on measurements such as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and blood pressure (BP). A smaller systematic review, also led by Dr. Chisholm-Burns and appearing in The American Journal of Health-Systems Pharmacy (doi:10.2146/ajhp100077),
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see DIRECT CARE, page 8
ASP Plus 6% Not a Done Deal 2% outpatient payment boost ‘encouraging’ but not guaranteed
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ospital pharmacy gained one significant improvement in the 2011 drug reimbursement rates proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for its Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS). In place of this year’s rate of Average Sales Price (ASP) plus 4% for separately payable drugs, CMS says the methodology it uses to calculate payments should yield a 2011 rate
of ASP plus 6%. The increase would help cover pharmacy overhead costs and bring hospital outpatient drug reimbursement levels into line with those of physician offices. “I have to say I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Timothy Tyler, PharmD, director of pharmacy services at the Desert Regional Medical Center’s Comprehensive Cancer Center in Palm Springs, Calif. “Having spent
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see OUTPATIENT, page 46
New Product Bedford Laboratories now shipping Sumatriptan Succinate Injection in pre-filled syringes. See page
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