Author: Peter

Martin Shkreli...was arrested by the FBI...after a federal investigation involving his former hedge fund and a pharmaceutical company he previously headed...The securities fraud probe of Shkreli, who is now chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, stems from his time as manager of hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and CEO of biopharmaceutical company Retrophin...SEC alleged that Shkreli engaged in "widespread fraudulent conduct" from at least October 2009 to March 2014... "made material misrepresentations and omissions to investors and prospective investors,"...once Shkreli took Retrophin public, he "fraudulently induced" the company to fund settlements with individuals who had claims against Shkreli from their investments in his hedge funds...

James Hoffman, PharmD, MS, FASHP, explains how pharmacy practice settings may change going forward.

Under mounting criticism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has delayed plans to...release controversial opioid prescribing guidelines for primary care physicians. Instead, the guidelines will now be issued sometime later in the year...The delay was first signaled yesterday when the CDC unexpectedly disclosed that public comments on its proposal would be accepted through Jan. 13. However, the agency will also tap the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control’s Board of Scientific Counselors, a federal advisory committee, to review the guidelines and public comments...The postponement follows complaints from representatives of other federal agencies and consumer advocacy groups that the CDC guidelines were based on weak evidence and would unfairly restrict some patients from obtaining needed pain relief. The agency was also chastised for using a “secretive” process to formulate the guidelines, which some critics argued had violated federal law...the CDC delay apparently reflects a desire to comply with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which governs how expert groups are formed to provide official advice.

As the budget for the National Institutes of Health, the nation's largest funder of biomedical research, has flatlined over the past decade, the number of clinical trials funded by the federal agency has dramatically declined, a new study has found. At the same time, the number of trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry has exploded...Meanwhile, the number of NIH-sponsored trials fell from 1,376 registered on a website in 2006 to 1,048 by 2014, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Industry-sponsored trials grew by about 2,000 over the same period, reaching 6,550 registered in 2014...More trials is generally a good thing...because it means that more new drugs, devices or other treatments are being tested. But the decline in federally funded trials concerns public health researchers, because federally funded trials are independent, often intended to compare drugs or other treatments instead of simply to show that a product works and should gain federal approval…there are many areas of deserving research...there may need to be a formal discussion of how research dollars are spent. A reasonable way to begin...is to look at the burden of a particular disease and allotting research dollars to those that have the greatest effect on mortality and disability...

Matthew C. Grissinger, RPh, FISMP, FASCP, director, of error reporting programs at the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, discusses medication use risk outside the pharmacy.

Chikungunya (chik-ən-ˈgu̇n-yə) was rarely seen in US travelers before 2006, but the virus has grown more prevalent. Now, almost all states have seen at least one case of the disease in US travelers this year...Chikungunya virus is transmitted primarily through mosquito bites...Reports of infection tend to come from US travelers who visited Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the US Virgin Islands...Since there is no antiviral therapy specifically for chikungunya viral disease, patients diagnosed with it may be treated with corticosteroids or physiotherapy for joint pain. They may take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for pain and fever...Health care professionals should stress plenty of fluids and rest for infected patients...Here are 5 must-know facts pharmacists should know about chikungunya:

1. Look out for symptoms such as fever and polyarthralgia among travelers.
2. Chikungunya may cause central nervous system disease such as encephalitis.
3. More than 2811 chikungunya cases were reported among US citizens in 2014.
4. So far, 623 cases of chikungunya have been reported among Americans in 2015.
5. Researchers have made strides in developing a chikungunya vaccine.

Katie Greenlee, PharmD, BCPS-AQ Cardiology, of the Cleveland Clinic discusses how NOAC (novel oral anticoagulants) dosing for obese patients differs from NOAC dosing for non-obese patients.

Score one for Mr. Mucus. A new study found that the slimy spokes-character helped propel Reckitt Benckiser's family of Mucinex brands to three of the top four slots on a new list of preferred OTC cough-and-cold medicines. Treato, the online data-analysis company, created the list by analyzing findings from more than 5 million patient-written online posts and reviews...Mucinex D was No. 1, earning 4.6 (5-point satisfaction scale), followed by Delsym, which is also a Reckitt brand. Mucinex and Mucinex DM ranked Nos. 3 and 4, with Pfizer's Robitussin DM and Dimetapp brands tied at No. 5...Reckitt Benckiser's investment in DTC advertising is clearly paying off as consumers are disproportionately discussing their brands online...

A Massachusetts pharmacist is speaking out about prescription drug abuse and heroin addiction in a new HBO documentary...Lauren Heroux-Camirand, RPh, conducted 2 interviews with the filmmakers of "Heroin: Cape Cod USA" at Country Square Pharmacy in Attleboro, Massachusetts...she thought it was important to talk openly about illicit drug use... “We are here, as pharmacists and humans, to be compassionate and help in any way we can,”...“That is why I agreed to participate and speak up.”...In her interviews with the filmmakers, Heroux-Camirand discussed both facts about drug abuse and her experiences seeing people struggle with addiction...The movie will premiere in Massachusetts before debuting on HBO on December 28, 2015

Natasha Nicol, PharmD, FASHP, director of Global Patient Safety Affairs at Cardinal Health, provides prevention strategies to reduce medication errors.