Author: Peter

MIT researchers have developed a compact, portable pharmaceutical manufacturing system that can be reconfigured to produce a variety of drugs on demand...Just as an emergency generator supplies electricity to handle a power outage, this system could be rapidly deployed to produce drugs needed to handle an unexpected disease outbreak, or to prevent a drug shortage caused by a manufacturing plant shutdown...Think of this as the emergency backup for pharmaceutical manufacturing...The purpose is not to replace traditional manufacturing; it’s to provide an alternative for these special situations...The goal of this project was to build a small-scale, portable unit that was completely integrated, so you could imagine being able to ship it anywhere. And as long as you had the right chemicals, you could make pharmaceuticals...system can produce four drugs formulated as solutions or suspensions — Benadryl, lidocaine, Valium, and Prozac. Using this apparatus, the researchers can manufacture about 1,000 doses of a given drug in 24 hours...researchers are now working on the second phase of the project, which includes making the system about 40 percent smaller and producing drugs whose chemical syntheses are more complex. They are also working on producing tablets, which are more complicated to manufacture than liquid drugs.

Government Accountability Office discovered vulnerabilities in three states and said that other state-run health insurance exchanges may be at risk too...Obamacare health insurance websites in California, Kentucky and Vermont have serious cybersecurity flaws that could result in hackers obtaining personal data from hundreds of thousands of people...One state didn't encrypt passwords, GAO officials said. Another state didn't properly use a filter to block hostile attempts to the site. And the other state didn't use proper encryption - leaving a door for hackers to gain entry...Officials from both California and Kentucky told the AP there was no evidence hackers had stolen anything, while Vermont officials declined to comment on the findings...

Dr. Cathy Goring has seen many changes while practicing medicine in Reno. In this interview, she provides both the history and the planned future of medical school education in Reno. Goring is Chair of the Internal Medicine Department at the school of medicine as well as an academic hospitalist at Renown Health. Leading the discussion is Anne McMillin with the University of Nevada School of Medicine. (10:30 min podcast)

A tussle between a Texas compounder and the Food and Drug Administration underscores the ongoing difficulties that regulators can have overseeing this controversial portion of the medical supply chain...The episode also illustrates how varying approaches taken by state and federal authorities to regulating compounding pharmacies can leave doctors and patients confused about the safety of medicines...the FDA issued a health alert recommending that doctors and patients should toss sterile medicines made by IV Specialty. The agency found numerous safety issues during an inspection...the compounder refused an agency recommendation to halt production or issue a recall until the problems were fixed...The FDA...lacks authority to force the compounder to take these steps...In response to the FDA actions, the state agency (Texas State Board of Pharmacy) sent its own inspector to review IV Specialty facilities...According to our rules, they’re doing what they need to do. We didn’t see anything that we felt would prompt us to immediately close them down...state regulations are not as stringent as FDA regulations..."We’re still in the early stages of figuring out how state and federal regulation schemes are going to work," said Elizabeth Jungman, director of public health programs at Pew Charitable Trusts, which tracks compounding issues. "So it’s confusing for patients and physicians to see disagreement between regulators at state and federal levels."

Canadian Pharmacists Association...called for pharmacists be on the front lines of patient management and dispensing of medical marijuana...Pharmacists are medication experts and play a critical role in the management and monitoring of medication to ensure safe and optimal use...it is patient safety that is ultimately at the heart of CPhA's decision to update its position on the role of pharmacists in the management and dispensing of medical marijuana...(the) announcement marks a reversal for the organization, which opposed pharmacist distribution over lack of evidence of efficacy and concern over potential robberies…CPhA said its evolution on the issue was informed by three factors:

1. concern from members over the impact lack of proper clinical oversight for using medical marijuana could have on patients;
2. the findings of an independent report from KPMG that found pharmacist dispensation and management was the best option for patient safety and access;
3. the results of a CphA-commissioned...survey in which 73% of respondents...agreed that medical marijuana should be treated like other medicines and only be available through a pharmacy.

Armada Health Care announced...that it would be launching a new brand identity and company name change to Asembia. With the new name, Asembia plans to continue expanding on its specialty pharmaceutical offerings, including solutions for pharmacies, pharmaceutical and biotech companies and payers...We are a very different company from when we first started more than a decade ago. In this regard, we are excited to announce our new corporate identity which we feel better reflects our broad array of capabilities and service offerings, each of which are developed collaboratively with our member pharmacy and manufacturer...

Even though US consumers spend 3 times more for hospital care than for medication, they are much angrier with pharmaceutical companies than hospitals for driving up the cost of health care. Drug companies raise this apparent inconsistency in an effort to defend their pricing practices. In so doing, however, they fail to appreciate why they’ve been targeted for so much opprobrium. Ironically, the industry’s biggest public relations problems may arise from its most effective and widely applicable innovations...Taking medications is the most common way US consumers use health care...patients are 8 times more likely take a prescription drug than to use hospital inpatient services...US patients are relatively underinsured for prescription drug expenses, further contributing to high out-of-pocket costs...The upward trajectory of cost sharing amplifies the effect of price increases on patients. As coverage erodes, the veil separating patients from drug prices lifts; fewer get such a clear view of hospital prices...The rate of increase in drug prices has outpaced that of overall medical care every year since 2008...Higher prices may help fuel drug innovation. Yet, at the current price trajectory, the rate of innovation will eventually exceed our ability to pay for it. Fostering valuable innovation with financial reward is the engine of much of American commerce, including in health care. It’s a fantastic model, responsible for tremendous gains in longevity, well-being, and satisfaction. We should keep that engine turning, but only as rapidly as we can afford.

Benzer Pharmacy...launched its new website for pet medications, BenzerPetMed.com. Benzer pharmacist JiYang Chung said that compounded pet medication has become an ideal treatment for such acute and chronic conditions in pets as rashes, ear infections, wound care and diabetes...Benzer Pet Pharmacy will formulate pharmaceutical-grade ingredients into tailored medications for pet’s specific needs…The website will offer such services as home deliveries, online ordering, refill reminders, custom compounded medication and free medication flavoring...

Manikins that breathe, sweat, cry and give birth are the newest high-tech teaching tools at Renown Regional Medical Center. They simulate normal healthy human functions. They can also imitate the symptoms of a medical conditions, giving health care professionals training opportunities...Sensors can tell the coordinators if the right medications and dosage were used. If not, the patient simulator may begin to display symptoms of a reaction. Organizers hope the program gives new and experienced nurses broader knowledge. Doctors and nurses will begin training with the manikins in early May...

Food and Drug Administration...moved to revoke approval of a drug used to treat certain conditions in pigs because it could leave a cancerous residue that may affect human health...The drug, carbadox, is made by Teaneck, New Jersey-based Phibro Animal Health and is used to control swine dysentery and bacterial enteritis...It has also been used to promote weight gain in pigs...Potential cancer risks are based on an assumed lifetime of consuming pork liver or other pork products containing carbadox residues...adding that it is not recommending that people change their food choices while it works to remove the drug from the market...The FDA said it asked Phibro for additional information about the safety of carbadox but the company has not submitted any proof that there is a safe way to use it...Three antibiotics made by Phibro contain the drug: Mecadox Premix 10, Banminth/Mecadox; and Mecadox/Terramycin...