CDC Page: Core Elements of Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Programs (free resources)
Commentary: CDC updates ‘core’ antibiotic stewardship elements for hospitals – CIDRAP (free)
Related: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Toxicities (free guidelines and reviews on the subject)
Summary: Over-the-Counter Access to Hormonal Contraception (free)
News Release: ACOG Updates Guidance on Over-the-Counter Access to Hormonal Contraception (free)
Commentaries: Hormonal Contraceptives Should Be Available OTC, ACOG Recommends – NEJM Journal Watch (free) AND All hormonal birth control should be available over the counter, OB-GYN group says – NBC News (free)
Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid-Use Disorder – Mayo Clinic Proceedings (free for a limited period)
Related: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Toxicities (guidelines and reviews on the subject)
Recommendation Summary: Medication Use to Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer (free)
Editorials: Medications to Reduce Breast Cancer Risk: Promise and Limitations (free for a limited period) AND Breast Cancer Chemoprevention—Can We Make a Case for Precision Medicine? (free for a limited period)
Evidence Report and Systematic Review: Medication Use for the Risk Reduction of Primary Breast Cancer in Women – US Preventive Services Task Force (free)
Author Interview: USPSTF Recommendation: Medication Use to Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer (free audio)
Commentaries: Medication can lower some women’s risk of breast cancer – Reuters (free) AND USPSTF: Aromatase Inhibitors Recommended to Help Prevent Breast Cancer – NEJM Journal Watch (free)
Related: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Toxicities (free guidelines and reviews on the subject)
Redefining Medication Management in Dialysis: A Kidney Pharmacy Quality Pyramid – Kidney Medicine (free)
Related: Drug Management in the Elderly Adult With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Review for the Primary Care Physician – Mayo Clinic Proceedings (free) AND Medication Reconciliation and Therapy Management in Dialysis-Dependent Patients: Need for a Systematic Approach – Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (free)
News Release: Prescription omega-3 fatty acid medications effectively lower high triglycerides – American Heart Association (free)
Related: Omega-3 Supplements Do Not Reduce the Risk of Cancer or Cardiovascular Disease (randomized trial and systematic reviews on the subject)
Related Position Statements on Perioperative Opioid Therapy: American Society for Enhanced Recovery and Perioperative Quality Initiative Joint Consensus Statement on Perioperative Management of Patients on Preoperative Opioid Therapy (free) AND American Society for Enhanced Recovery and Perioperative Quality Initiative-4 Joint Consensus Statement on Persistent Postoperative Opioid Use: Definition, Incidence, Risk Factors, and Health Care System Initiatives (free)
See also: American Society of Enhanced Recovery (ASER) and Perioperative Quality Initiative (POQI) joint consensus statements (free) AND Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Society Guidelines (free articles)
See also: Practice guideline update summary: Acute treatment of migraine in children and adolescents – Neurology (free PDF)
Commentaries: AAN issues guidelines for treatment of migraine in children and teens – American Academy of Neurology (free) AND Guidelines Updated on Preventing and Treating Migraine in Children and Teens – NEJM Journal Watch (free)
Related Guidelines: WHO Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (free PDF) AND US Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (free) AND UK Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (free)
Guidance: World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 21st list 2019 (free PDF) AND Executive summary: the selection and use of essential medicines 2019 (free PDF) AND World Health Organization model list of essential medicines for children: 7th list 2019 (free PDF) AND Second WHO Model List of Essential In Vitro Diagnostics (free PDF)
Commentaries: WHO List of Essential Tests Gets An Upgrade – Forbes (free) AND WHO adds new antibiotics to essential medicines list – CIDRAP (free)
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Toxicities – Mayo Clinic Proceedings (free)
Related Guidelines: Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline (free) AND Management of Immunotherapy-Related Toxicities, Version 1.2019, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (free) AND Managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: consensus recommendations from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Toxicity Management Working Group (free)
Related Reviews: New drugs, new toxicities: severe side effects of modern targeted and immunotherapy of cancer and their management – Critical Care (free) AND Severe toxicity from checkpoint protein inhibitors: What intensive care physicians need to know? – Annals of Intensive Care (free) AND Checkpoint Inhibitors: The diagnosis and treatment of side effects – Deutsches Ärzteblatt international (free)
“In one retrospective study, approximately one half of kidney function–impaired patients with solid tumors who were receiving a drug that necessitated dose adjustments for kidney function received almost 50% of their prescriptions at standard doses”.
Higher doses of antidepressants “not optimal”, according to new review – The Mental Elf (free)
Original Article: Meta-analysis: Optimal Dose of Antidepressants in Major Depression (free study and commentaries)
Commentary: Reversal of Direct Oral Anticoagulants – NEJM Journal Watch (free for a limited period)
Related Guidelines: Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline (free) AND Managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: consensus recommendations from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Toxicity Management Working Group (free)
Related Reviews: New drugs, new toxicities: severe side effects of modern targeted and immunotherapy of cancer and their management – Critical Care (free) AND Severe toxicity from checkpoint protein inhibitors: What intensive care physicians need to know? – Annals of Intensive Care (free) AND Checkpoint Inhibitors: The diagnosis and treatment of side effects – Deutsches Ärzteblatt international (free)
EASL Clinical Practice Guidelines: Drug-induced liver injury – Journal of Hepatology (free)
Related Review: Drug-induced liver injury: recent advances in diagnosis and risk assessment – Gut (free)
Related Commentary on Twitter
The @EASLedu guidelines on drug-induced liver injury are now available.
Including a special section on liver manifestations in cancer #Immunotherapy https://t.co/ptqeIRoFvO #liverdisease #DILI @EASLnews pic.twitter.com/SLrMGYsFQn— Journal of Hepatology (@JHepatology) April 6, 2019
Related Guidelines: Management of Immune-Related Adverse Events in Patients Treated With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy: American Society of Clinical Oncology Clinical Practice Guideline (free) AND Managing toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: consensus recommendations from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Toxicity Management Working Group (free)
Related Reviews: New drugs, new toxicities: severe side effects of modern targeted and immunotherapy of cancer and their management – Critical Care (free) AND Severe toxicity from checkpoint protein inhibitors: What intensive care physicians need to know? – Annals of Intensive Care (free)
REPORT – Medication Overload: America’s Other Drug Problem – Lown Institute (free PDF)
Executive Summary: Medication Overload: America’s Other Drug Problem – Lown Institute (free PDF)
Press Release: Growing epidemic of medication overload impacting millions of older Americans (free)
Commentaries: Medication Overload: How the drive to prescribe is harming older Americans – Lown Institute (free) AND Overprescribed: High cost isn’t America’s only drug problem – STAT (free)
Related: Reducing Inappropriate Medication Use & Polypharmacy (several articles and commentaries on the subject)
Related: Pharmacokinetics–pharmacodynamics issues relevant for the clinical use of beta-lactam antibiotics in critically ill patients – Critical Care (free) AND Extended antibiotic infusions could save lives: Here’s how to do it – PulmCCM (free) AND Mortality lower with prolonged vs. short-term IV infusion of antipseudomonal beta-lactams (link to abstract and commentary)
Choosing Wisely Canada: Six Things Clinicians and Patients Should Question – Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (free)
See complete lists of low-value practices: Choosing Wisely U.S. / Choosing Wisely UK / Choosing Wisely Australia AND Choosing Wisely Canada
Related: Severe Toxicity from Checkpoint Protein Inhibitors (free guidelines and reviews on the subject)
“Less than 10% of patients labeled as having a penicillin allergy are confirmed as present upon skin testing. This labeling results in use of alternative antibiotics and thus unwanted adverse consequences including potentiated antimicrobial resistance, increased costs, and worse clinical outcomes.”
News Release: For older people, medications are common; AGS Beers Criteria aims to make them appropriate, too (free)
Commentary: AGS: Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Med Use in Older Adults Updated – MPR (free)
Related Commentary on Twitter
The #AGSBeersCriteria includes lists of medications that may be inappropriate or unsafe for older adults. See the latest updates for 2019: https://t.co/qGB5Y1cD7S pic.twitter.com/ow0xds2gN7
— American Geriatrics Society (@AmerGeriatrics) February 1, 2019
Polypharmacy: Getting our medicines right – Royal Pharmaceutical Society (free)
Shorter Version: Polypharmacy (free)
Commentary: Pharmacists call for regular reviews of medicines – BBC (free)
Related: Reducing Inappropriate Medication Use & Polypharmacy (several articles and commentaries on the subject)
Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs: ASCO Standards – Journal of Clinical Oncology (free)
Summary: Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (free)
Editorial: ASCO Standards for Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs (free)
News Release: New Standards for Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs Focus on Developing Evidence-Based Measures (free)