Community/Retail

Farah Towfic, PharmD, MBA, director, CEO operations at US Pharmacopeia (USP), discusses USP’s release of an updated version of its COVID-19 Vaccine Handling Toolkit in response to feedback from independent pharmacies to mass vaccination clinics.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted pharmacy practice due to its role in supporting overwhelmed physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals who faced some of the immediate challenges of the crisis.

Pharmacies can reach patients who are not receiving vaccines from a pharmacy but are willing to receive them.

More than ever, confidence in objective, science-based data about therapeutics, such as the COVID-19 vaccine and other health care services, is a shared imperative across the pharmaceutical industry, health care communities, and the American public.

New results show that non-Hispanic Black patients with COVID-19 and type 1 diabetes have an additional risk of diabetic ketoacidosis beyond the risk of having diabetes or being of minority status.

Use basic knowledge of medications to be the first line of defense in ensuring safety and maintaining pharmacy workflow.

Among surveyed American adults, more than half were diagnosable with probable depression at baseline, in addition to 65% who had anxiety and 51% at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Exposure to fine particulate, carbon monoxide, and ozone over time was linked to increased methylation, leading to higher rates of heart disease and other conditions in adulthood.

The researchers analyzed body composition data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2004) and cardiovascular disease data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2014).

Following a review of the latest interim data released by AstraZeneca on its US phase 3 clinical trial assessing the 2-dose AZD1222 COVID-19 vaccine, the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) expressed concern at the inclusion of what may have been outdated data.

Intranasal administration of virucidal and antiviral therapies may provide added clinical benefit by decreasing viral activity in the nasal pathway, preventing COVID-19 transmission and managing disease severity.

This was the first genome-wide association study of skin pigmentation in African Americans, according to the study authors.

The independent data safety monitoring board conducted a specific review of thrombotic events related to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and found no increased risk.

Black adults living in rural areas of the United States have experienced higher mortality rates due to diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and stroke compared to white adults over the past 20 years, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Caroline Carney, MD, MSc, FAPM, CPHQ, CMO of Magellan Health, discusses how pharmacists can be first line in noticing changes in patients’ cognitive functioning.

The first participants were dosed in the phase 2/3 KidCOVE study investigating vaccine candidate mRNA-1273 against COVID-19 in children aged 6 months to less than 12 years of age.

This week is National Brain Awareness Week, so Pharmacy Times® interviewed Caroline Carney, MD, MSc, FAPM, CPHQ, CMO of Magellan Health, on some of the issues surrounding the contemporary understanding of mental health and brain health.

In a recent interview with Pharmacy Times, Raj Desai, PharmD, MBA, discussed a recent COVID-19 vaccination event at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, where he is the director of pharmacy.

Community pharmacists have an essential role to play during this phase of the crisis that could further entrench them as the epicenter of care in the communities they serve.

Study findings contradict a long-standing hypothesis that held the pancreas increases insulin production because the cells have already become insulin-resistant and blood sugar rises as a result.

How much does this federal program affect the success of the health care parties involved?

The study also found that women with chest pain were more likely than men to wait more than 12 hours before seeking medical help.

In the 4th century BCE, Hippocrates, the founding father of medicine, established that the best cure for hemorrhoids was through the application of the curative properties of fire.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed George Rafferty, president of corporate partnerships at AmerisourceBergen, on how large retail pharmacies have been impacted by and been able to respond to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the study revealed for the first time the physiological reason for the neutral protection is increased blood flow to the brain as a result of higher levels of progesterone.

The study results reiterate the importance of interventions to lower prescribing rates of potentially inappropriate drugs among older adults.

Health care professionals should address potential barriers to completing the COVID-19 vaccination series, including scheduling second-dose appointments at the first-dose administration and sending reminders for second-dose visits.

TDF-based therapy is associated with renal adverse effects (AEs) and bone loss, whereas TAF-based therapy has been associated with fewer AEs.

Results of clinical trials have shown that a nitric oxide nasal spray is both a safe and effective antiviral treatment to prevent COVID-19 transmission and symptom duration, as well as reduce symptom severity and damage in those already infected.

Pharmacists and pharmacy staff failing to deal adequately with stressors put themselves and their patients at risk through mounting frustration, tiredness, burnout, and commission of errors.