Physician-pharmacist teams may help increase hypertension control.

Physician-pharmacist teams may help increase hypertension control.

HealthDay (11/23, Edelson) reported that, according to a study published in the Nov. 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, hypertension "is better controlled by doctor-pharmacist teams working hand-in-hand than by doctors and pharmacists working alone." Researchers from the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy divided "402 people treated for high blood pressure at six clinics...into two groups."

Medscape (11/23, Barclay, subscription required) reported that patients at "three clinics were randomly assigned to a control group," while patients at the other three "clinics were randomly assigned to an intervention group in which physicians and pharmacists underwent team-building exercises." Next, "using national guidelines, clinical pharmacists made drug therapy recommendations to physicians in the intervention group." The investigators discovered that "in the control group, mean guideline adherence scores increased from 49.4 ± 19.3 at baseline to 53.4 ± 18.1 at six months (8.1% increase), compared with a 55.4% increase in the intervention group (from 40.4 ± 22.6 at baseline to 62.8 ± 13.5 at six months)."

MedPage Today (11/23, Phend) reported, "These results suggest that clinics and health systems with clinical pharmacists consider giving them a more direct role in patient management," the authors said. An editorial accompanying the study pointed out that "so far, the medical home model for chronic conditions such as hypertension typically hasn't included a pharmacist," but "before the medical home" concept "takes further root, comprehensive efforts should be made to ensure that pharmacists are included on the team because of the mounting evidence for their contribution to quality of care."

FDA

FDA approves Crestor for younger patients with familial hypercholesterolemia.The AP (10/16) reported that "the Food and Drug Administration approved AstraZeneca PLC's cholesterol drug Crestor [rosuvastatin] for use by children and teenagers with a genetic disease" called heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. The condition "affects 10 million people worldwide, and causes high levels of...LDL cholesterol." HeartWire (10/16, O'Riordan) reported that "the approval is based on data from the Pediatric Lipid Reduction Trial of Rosuvastatin (PLUTO), a 12-week randomized, controlled trial that examined the safety and efficacy of rosuvastatin in 177 pediatric familial hypercholesterolemia patients."

Technology

Number of people using Internet to research drug information doubles.

Healthcare IT News (10/2, Monegain) reported, "Since 2005, the number of patients using the Internet to research prescription drug information has doubled to 102.3 million, according to a new study from Manhattan Research." The survey of 8,600 adults "during the third quarter of this year" also "found that the major theme of the digital health landscape over the past four years is the increasing diversity of the overall patient media mix." In addition, health-related "social media, in particular, has flourished in recent years with the increased popularity of online patient communities, social networking and health 2.0 applications."

Johnson & Johnson recalls 57 lots of pediatric Tylenol products.

Johnson & Johnson recalls 57 lots of pediatric Tylenol products.

The AP (9/25) reports that on Sept. 24, "Johnson & Johnson's McNeil unit" announced that "it is voluntarily recalling 57 lots of infants' and children's liquid Tylenol [acetaminophen] products because of possible bacterial contamination." All of the "products being recalled were made between April and June" 2008 "and include nearly two dozen varieties, including Children's Tylenol Suspension 4 oz. Grape, Infants' Tylenol Grape Suspension Drops 1/4 oz., and Children's Tylenol Plus Cold/Allergy 4 oz. Bubble Gum."

The Dow Jones Newswire (9/25, Favole, subscription required) reports that, according to Johnson & Johnson, the company agreed to recall the medicines after consulting with the Food and Drug Administration, even though the possibility of medical harm is slim.

The Los Angeles Times (9/24, Dennis) "Booster Shots" blog reported that the recall was implemented "because examination of bulk raw material detected that one of the inactive ingredients did not meet internal testing requirements. Specifically, the gram-negative bacteria Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia) was detected." Even though "the portion of raw material in which the bacteria was found was...not used in the production of any finished product," the manufacturer decided to "recall all product that utilized any of the raw material manufactured at the same time as the raw material that tested positive for the bacteria."

WebMD (9/24, Hitti) reported that in a recall letter dated Sept. 18, McNeil Consumer Healthcare stated, "Adverse health consequences of B. cepacia infections could be potentially severe, especially in high-risk patients, such as those with underlying pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, or compromised immune systems." MedPage Today (9/24, Peck) and Florida's Palm Beach Post(9/24, Isger) also covered the story.

Consumption of alcohol may interfere with controlled-release drugs, study suggests.

MedPage Today (9/24, Fiore) reported that, according to a study published online in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics, "consumption of alcohol may interfere with controlled-release drugs, potentially sending an excess of active ingredient into the bloodstream." After conducting a meta-analysis, researchers found that "ethanol tended to impair the release mechanism, sending the drug more quickly into the small intestine" -- a "particularly worrisome" finding "in the case of controlled-release opioids."

Experimental AIDS vaccine shows unexpected efficacy in trial.

Experimental AIDS vaccine shows unexpected efficacy in trial.

The Washington Post (9/24, Brown) reports, "An experiment in Thailand involving 16,000 men and women has demonstrated for the first time a small but measurable protective effect of an AIDS vaccine." The Post calls the results "barely significant on statistical grounds, perplexing for scientific reasons and unanticipated by most researchers. Nevertheless, the first positive results for an AIDS vaccine after two decades of experimentation was being called a milestone."

"I don't want to use a word like 'breakthrough,' but I don't think there's any doubt that this is a very important result," Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told the New York Times (9/24, McNeil). The vaccine, known as RV 144, "protected too few people to be declared an unqualified success. And the researchers do not know why it worked."

The AP (9/24, Marchione, Casey) reports, that "the vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent." It is a combination of Sanofi Pasteur's ALVAC "and AIDSVAX, originally developed by VaxGen Inc." The vaccine was tested "in a 'prime-boost' approach, where the first one primes the immune system to attack HIV and the second one strengthens the response."

The US Army funded the study along with the NIAID and the NIH, Bloomberg News (9/24, Bennett) adds. For the study, "researchers enrolled volunteers in Thailand's Chon Buri and Rayong provinces, which have the nation's highest rates of HIV." Volunteers "were given four doses of the ALVAC vaccine and two of the AIDSVAX shot over six months, then monitored for three years. They were also given advice on safe sex."

Researcher Dr. Jerome Kim, a US Army colonel at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, said, "We had 74 infections in the placebo group and 51 in the vaccine group," Reuters (9/24, Fox) reports. Dr. Fauci admitted that he "did not think there was a very high chance that this would give any degree of efficacy." Dr. Fauci added that "nonetheless, we went ahead with the trial and it was controversial to go ahead with it."