Author Archives: pharminpt

Antibiotics for everyone!

Posted on April 13, 2013 by pharminpt

A report this week in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that, whether you knew it or not, lots (really, lots) of your patients are/were/will be taking antibiotics.1 Patients might not consider these medications relevant to their rehabilitation, but … Continue reading →

Posted in antibiotics, general | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

NMEs of 2012

Posted on January 8, 2013 by pharminpt

Before much more of  2013 slips by, here’s a review of the newly-FDA approved drugs of 2012. More specifically, we’re talking about NMEs or “new molecular entities”, as opposed to old drugs repackaged for new indications or reformulated for new routes … Continue reading →

Posted in general | Tagged | 1 Comment

Lorcaserin approved by FDA

Posted on June 28, 2012 by pharminpt

Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the weight loss drug lorcaserin (Belviq®, Arena Pharmaceuticals). This is the first approval for an obesity treatment since orlistat (Xenical®) in 1999. The effect on weight loss is modest (3-5%) and the … Continue reading →

Posted in plasma glucose, weight loss | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Oh, the Medicines You’ll Take!

Posted on June 28, 2012 by pharminpt

An Update on Pediatric Drug Utilization Drugs aren’t just for grown ups, but it would appear that kids are being prescribed fewer medications than they used to be back in the day, all the way back in 2002.1 The data, published … Continue reading →

Posted in general | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Adverse drug events in the ICU – do they happen and do they matter?

Posted on June 22, 2012 by pharminpt

Physical Therapists in Intensive Care With all the talk lately about early mobilization in the ICU (a recent systematic review, Amy Pawlik’s standing room only presentation at CSM 2012), it’s evident that physical therapists and other rehabilitation professionals are only … Continue reading →

Posted in general | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Twelve trillion, four hundred forty billion…

Posted on January 12, 2012 by pharminpt

Does that number mean anything to you? Probably not, and that’s probably OK. But should it? Probably, and here’s why. That number is an estimate, a very rough estimate, of the number of medication doses, both prescription and over the … Continue reading →

Posted in general | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Enough (acetaminophen) is enough

Posted on July 29, 2011 by pharminpt

As of yesterday, it got a little harder to take too much Tylenol®.  NPR reported on their Health blog Shots, that McNeil Consumer Healthcare, a division of Johnson & Johnson , is going to change the labeling on Extra Strength Tylenol® … Continue reading →

Posted in musculoskeletal | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

NSAIDs, even over-the-counter, not to be taken lightly

Posted on July 27, 2011 by pharminpt

Have you ever suggested that a patient take an over-the-counter (OTC) anti-inflammatory or analgesic? Aside from the fact that prescribing medication is outside of the scope of physical therapist practice, the number of reasons against making a casual recommendation that … Continue reading →

Posted in cardiovascular, musculoskeletal | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

ARISTOTLE says “nyah nyah – nah nah nah” to warfarin

Posted on June 23, 2011 by pharminpt

The search for an alternative to the pain-in-the-### that is warfarin goes on. There are some promising candidates. The FDA approved dabigatran (Pradaxa™), a direct thrombin inhibitor, back in November of last year. It has its pros and cons. In … Continue reading →

Posted in bleeding | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Dodo birds and 80 mg of simvastatin

Posted on June 23, 2011 by pharminpt

High doses of simvastatin have gone the way of those famous birds from Mauritius as of two weeks ago. The FDA released a statement on June 8th recommending that the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin not be prescribed at the 80 mg … Continue reading →

Posted in muscle/myopathy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment