November/December 2012

Conference coverage of The American College of Chest Physician CHEST 2012 meeting.

Based on American College of Rheumatology recommendations and novel emerging treatment options, the trend of increasing biologic use for rheumatoid arthritis is expected to continue.

Last year's historic UN meeting set the stage for the fight against noncommunicable diseases. What are our next steps in stopping this slow-moving hurricane?

For US payers, pegfilgrastim is a less-expensive choice than daily filgrastim for reducing the risk of febrile neutropenia in patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy.

This review summarizes the safety and efficacy of 3 new orally active anticoagulant drugs (dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban) that can be used as alternatives to warfarin.

More focus needs to be directed to the pharmacy benefit structure and appropriate use of medication in the pediatric population.

The New England Compounding Center experience points to an immediate need for clarification of exactly where the dividing line is between compounding and pharmaceutical manufacturing.