Team Including Pharmacists Improves Care, Quality of Life for Heart Failure Patients

A team that includes pharmacists as well as nurses and physicians can play an extremely important role in improving care for heart failure patients. That’s according to new research presented recently at the Heart Failure Society of America meeting. Here’s how the teams improved both quality of care and quality of life for those with heart failure. 

Type of Oral Hormone Therapy Affects VT Risks in Postmenopausal Women

When pharmacists are asked about the safety of oral hormone therapies to relieve postmenopausal symptoms, the first response should probably be, “Which type?” University of Washington researchers found that conjugated equine estrogens were linked to higher risk for venous thrombosis and possible myocardial infarction than estradiol. Find out how much the risks differed based on formulation.

Atypical Antipsychotics Can Triple Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Children, Young Adults

Prescribing “atypical” antipsychotic drugs to children and young adults can as much as triple their risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the first year of therapy, according to a new study out of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. What drugs were involved and what do the authors recommend?

Article Questions Long-Term Benefit of Prescription
Drug Coupons

Does the significant time pharmacists spend processing prescription drug coupons each day pay off for everyone involved? A new perspective article in a major medical journal questions the value of the discount—for patients who eventually face higher costs and for the U.S. healthcare system in general. Here’s what the authors had to say.