Preliminary study on effects of caffeine and acetaminophen

First off, I would have put Tylenol, but someone doesn't like me using brand names. And I'm all about making everyone happy. I saw a few articles on this, and I thought it was interesting. I think the comment that sums it up is "there are a million miles between E.Coli and humans." However, there is some very serious validity to this article. Here's the link to the Fox News article (no comments on the source, please) It also had an interesting few words from Dr. Steven Lidofsky that even mentioned Cyp2E1 possibly being responsible. Kind of crazy to see that in a general article like this one.

Here's a BBC article on the topic too. Apparently paracetamol is the same as acetaminophen. Oh, those crazy Brits!

Also, this only pertains to high doses of caffeine, so it didn't seem to cause concern with migraine meds that contain caffeine and APAP or Fioricet, oh, excuse me-the butalbital, caffeine and acetaminophen combination drug commonly referred to as Fioricet.

I tried to find the original article on this one; if I do find it, I'll be sure to post it, my faithful blog-reader(s).

HIV Vaccine Progress Halted

James Bischoff pointed this BBC article out to me: Merck, as I'm sure many companies are doing, has been working on a vaccine for HIV, primarily testing on people who are at high risk for contracting HIV: gay men and sex workers in Africa. An independent panel recently suggested halting the trial, saying it was headed for failure. The article says that Merck had been working on the vaccine for 10 years. Hopefully some other vaccines are in the pipeline to treat this disease.

FDA and New powers to watch advertising

Ok, so they can do more than just watch advertising, they can actually stop advertising they deem misleading. I originally heard this on NPR Moneymarket-here's the link with the script of the piece below. If you read the whole thing-you'll see this, but I want to make sure you hear about it: Last year drug companies spent $5.3 billion on advertising. Not research. Not manufacturing. Advertising. But, when you think about all the ads you see for drugs, it makes sense. I also don't know if that was OTC and prescription, or just prescription drugs just to let ya know.

Another good article on this is in the LA Times, found here. It goes into much more detail of how the new Senate bill expands the role of the FDA and gives them more proactive powers. It also discusses the creation of a database that scans for pharmacy and insurance records for patterns of medication problems. Obviously-this is a much more active and more powerful role for the FDA, something that many people say is long over due.

In regards to the database-Two things I consider when I think about this issue. First, I think this could be a big step forward towards creating a more unified drug monitoring system. Think about it: If the FDA can link pharmacy and insurance records, how far off is it before they are looking for patients that are on duplicate therapy or are abusing narcotics? I have no background whatsoever in the topic, but it's something to hope for. On the contrast of that though, is of course cost. Increased monitoring obviously necessitates increased funding. This comes from tax-payers of course, but also from drug companies who must also pay millions of dollars to the FDA for them to review their New Drug Applications. Pros and cons to both.

Flu Update

With flu season approaching, third years studying hard to prepare for their immunization clinic and American Pharmacists Month getting ready to advertise to the world that people need to be immunized, several questions come to mind-Will their be enough vaccines? Whatever happened to bird flu? Who needs to be vaccinated?

Well, how about the first one: Will their be enough vaccines? I just saw an article on Time (always a reputable medical source...but hey, we're not getting too in depth I suppose) that states the CDC will have around 132 million vaccines-but, not everyone who should get vaccinated, does get vaccinated. This article does go into pretty decent detail about who should be getting the vaccine, but ask any third year student for more details. I know I'm learned up!! Also, this articl also mentions that the FluMist vaccine is now approved for children down to the age of 2-so classmates, you can be confident in putting that answer down for next weeks quiz!

Another item that has been around for the past couple years, and that is of course, the Avian Flu or H5N1 (so, it's a Wikipedia link, but it has a good summary of the flu, sorry for my references). Also, here's a link to the CDC current situation-Nothing too current, but of course it's not to flu season yet. I hate the "Wait and see" method, but with no vaccine, I guess that's what we have to do. And hope to be at the front of the line for Tamiflu.

"Poisonous Cocktail"

Recently in the New York Times, there was an article discussing the danger of multiple medications and really not keeping up on what you are taking, understanding the risks. For many of us, this is of course, obvious. It's what we are trained to do-understand people's medications and side effects, etc. But how many patients know this, or think of their medications as inert, and not the potential poisons they are?

I'm not posting this article or discussing it in the meeting this Thursday simply because of the content-I think it also illustrates two important items that we will focusing on this year: The importance of media and the role that it can play in influencing behavior and health literacy.

When I was reading this article, even though it is an op-ed piece, I couldn't help but think: How many people will read this? And how many of them will take a look at their meds, and think "You know, I'm on a couple of these medications..." Or that they are getting older, or don't understand why they are taking their meds, or chronically use OTC medications... Think of how many more patients this article reaches than what we as students do to encourage patients to know about their medications? Media has such a powerful voice, and that's why for American Pharmacists Month we are making such a strong push to engage the media-but more on that later.

Another note-read the language in this article. I don't know a whole lot about "health literacy" but it struck me how simplistic this article was written, but yet how easy it is to read for most patients to read. But, more on that later as we near MRM and the "Embrace Health Literacy" workshop.

HC Squared

Health care * Hilary Clinton=News. I'm not sure if it's because I listen to NPR while stuck in traffic (which happens a lot if you drive 94 at 8am and 5pm) but I've heard quite a bit of press devoted to this in the past day or two, and we are almost 14 month from the Presidential election. The last time there was this much hype and money thrown about was the race for MPSA president....oh wait....

Back to the topic at hand: Health care, and more importanly health care reform. Me, personally, I'm not all that politically informed beyond listening to the radio, which works well because I don't want to be biased on this blog. I save that for my other blog: http://www.jaredisalwaysrightnoquestions.com/. But, I thought I would dig a little deeper for you MPSAers and provide some info.

Hilary Clinton's last foray into health care reform occurred way back in 1993-94 when her hubby was president. In fact, Dr. Schondelmeyer served on the committe that worked on this project. I was about to enter the awkward age of puberty so I don't remember too much about it, but it was a big defeat for what became known as "Hillarycare" She was pretty much lambasted for her role, and it very likely will taint her next effort to take on the health care crisis. Lots of comments can be found, but here is the CNN article on her plan here. If I see an interesting comment or discussion, I'll try and post it, or if you, the loyal blog-reading public see one, please post it on the comments section.

I don't think I need to lay out how important all of this is to pharmacy. I think we all have experienced the patient that doesn't have insurance, or has recently gone off insurance and is buying medications that may keep them or a loved one alive. I don't know the right answer to solve the health care crisis, but it doesn't take an intelligent person to point out that at some point, something is going to have to change. Whether that is this plan, or something very different, I think we and the rest of the public need to look through the individual plans themselves before criticizing and saying it won't work. My two cents.

Diabetics like Inhaling Insulin

So, this is kind of interesting-according to a recent study, use of Exubera over insulin acheived comparable results, but patients had greater satisfaction. An interesting point with this-the patients were aged 12-17 and had type 1 diabetes. Check it out here.

Health Disparities Lectures

There are a few of us that are taking the Cultural Competency class, taught by Dr. Doneka Scott and Dr. Paul Ranelli. It is a class that will deal with the wide health disparities that still exist between different groups of people in the U.S. Though these lectures aren't a part of the class, I wanted to make public, or at least as public as this blog is (i.e. I check it from multiple computers, and no one else does) a couple of public lectures that Dr. Scott let us know about.

"The Role of Health Services Research in Closing the Health ServicesGap for Racial and Ethnic Minorities"

The next Distinguished Visiting Scholar Series in Health Disparitieslecture will feature Margarita Alegria, Ph.D., director, Center forMulticultural Mental Health Research; professor, Department ofPsychiatry, Harvard Medical School and the Cambridge Health Alliance.The event will be held on noon-1 p.m., Sept. 21, in Moos Tower1-450G.

“The Elephants in the Room: Social Justice, Public Health, and Health Inequities”

Nancy Krieger, Harvard School of Public Health, will present 9:30-10:30 a.m., Sept. 28, at Coffman Union Theater. This event is part of the Carl J. Martinson, M.D., Lectureship in Preventive Medicine, presented by the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology and Community Health.

When Dr. Fecik spoke of getting out there and experiencing things outside of the classroom, I feel he would say that these sessions would complement the list of 10 items that distinguish professionals.

Dr. Fecik's Speech-Professionalism

Dr. Robert Fecik was our speaker for the Welcoming Banquet-and he gave a great speech about becoming professionals. He said it wasn't something that one achieves by simply sitting in a classroom and studying out of assigned texts-there is much more involved with it. A student must pursue interests with passion, to "Be Brave" and continually ask questions. He also spoke of Ten Qualities that distinguish a professional-something that I feel is a very difficult thing to define. These qualities were published in a White Paper and expanded upon in the APhA-ASP Toolkit. Of those ten, only a few were qualities that one could gain directly from the classroom; to achieve the rest, students need to find them in different settings: Professional organizations like MPSA or the fraternities and other organizations. Meaning, get out there and do something. And if it's with MPSA, even better.

Update on Witt's Pharmacy in Rushford

Lots of developments for flood-damaged Rushford and SE Minnesota-cleanup continues and state aid is on its way. While this is great for the area, and support will still be given to Witt's Pharmacy, MPhA and Tom Witt say more help is needed-check out the letter here. Also, we at MPSA will have a bucket to pass around to collect support for Witt's Pharmacy-and MPSA will match donations up to $500!!! That's $2 for the price of $1!! I look forward to seeing you this afternoon at the meeting and at the Recognition Banquet!

Calling all Twin Cities Marathon/10 mile participants!

For this year's American Pharmacists Month we will be recognizing participants who will be running in the Twin Cities Marathon, as well as have pharmacy students there to talk to the public and, of course, cheer participants on!! So, we want to know who you are!!! Send an email to Jared at ande7977@umn.edu if you are participating, or know a pharmacist who is participating, and we'll let you know how you can help out!

NAPLEX Suspension

It's likely you have heard about this already, but a pharmacy prof at the University of Georgia was recently busted for giving students answers to the NAPLEX. More information here. Some of the comments below talk about the impact of the delay-Students losing signing bonuses, questioning the ethics of the profession and more. There are also many students who defend the professor and question why he is being persecuted-possibly because he is not affiliated with KAPLAN, ASHP, etc. Good discussions on both sides.

Relief for Witt's Pharmacy and Rushford

In today's meeting, Craig talked about the need to help out in Rushford, in particular with Witt's Pharmacy-an independent pharmacy in the small town of Rushford Minnesota. The pharmacy's inventory, records and everything else were destroyed; but people still need their medications. MPhA has organized a relief fund and issued a release asking for help. Student's interested in heading down to Rushford can contact Craig at glie0008@umn.edu and be put in contact with people who are heading down to help out. We will also be passing around a bucket to collect donations to help get Tom back on his feet. Also, here's some current news on relief efforts from the Red Cross.

APhA Responds to CMS requirement of Tamper-Resistant pads for Medicaid patients

For many in the profession, I think this one slipped in the backdoor. CMS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services will require patients to have a prescription written from tamper resistant pads by October 1st. Here's a link to the article from APhA.

A couple things to think about:

As they say in the response-What about emergency prescriptions? And paying for the second dispense? Also, think about this: Pharmacies could possibly be punished for something that a physician is ultimately responsible for: the writing of the prescription. But, pharmacies and pharmacists will be held liable.

This bill was passed under an Iraq Defense bill, and little discussion occurred on it. But look at the implication that it has for the practice of pharmacy! If nothing else, I think this illustrates the power that legislative and political issues have over how we practice, and why it is so important that we stay active and involved on that front. We'll try and keep you posted on further developments.

Welcome

Welcome to the new MPSA blog for the Twin Cities campus. We will try to use this as a forum to provide information on events in the College and MPSA, as well as happenings in the profession of Pharmacy. Let Jared know of anything that you think belongs on here, and we'll see what this becomes. Have a great year, and we'll see you at the meetings in WDH 7-135 on Thursday 12:15-1:15pm. Check out www5.pharmacy.umn.edu/mpsa/ for more information. Let Jared know what you think about the blog at ande7977@umn.edu.