2- Tuesday Pharmacy Practice News – 7th December

 1 – Intramuscular, Intravenous Sotrovimab Equally Effective for Treatment of COVID-19

• Intramuscular sotrovimab was not inferior to intravenous (IV) administration for the early treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in high-risk, non-hospitalized patients 12 years of age and older, according to the headline data from the randomized, multi-center, open-label COMET-TAIL phase 3 trial.
• Administration of the drug was effective up to 7 days after symptom onset, according to the study.
• The study enrolled 983 patients, initially divided into 3 arms: 500 mg of sotrovimab given intravenously, 500 mg delivered intramuscularly, and a low dose of 250 mg delivered intramuscularly.
• The low dose intramuscular cohort was discontinued following a greater number of hospitalizations occurring in that cohort.
• In the 500 mg intramuscular arm, the rate of progression to hospitalization for more than 24 hours or death was 2.7%, compared to 1.3% in the IV arm.

Source: Pharmacy Times

2 – COPD Awareness Month: Pharmacists’ Role in Helping Patients Breathe Better

• Psychiatric conditions, activity limitations, and complications from infection are all significant obstacles within COPD patient population.
• Millions of emergency department visits and thousands of hospitalizations are related to COPD, which substantially increases economic burden.
• Keys to managing COPD include smoking cessation, pharmacological therapy, preventative measures, and oxygen therapy.
• Medication adherence in patients with COPD ranges from 20% to 60% in real-world studies, and 54% of patients have poor inhaler technique.
• Many factors are important when finding the right therapy for the patient: inhaler type and technique required; number of inhalations per day; and financial obtainability.
• Pharmacists can contribute to improving patients’ control of COPD and minimize complications.

Source: Pharmacy Times

3 – Cancer Caregivers Face Mental Health Struggles During COVID-19 Pandemic

• Over two-thirds of unpaid caregivers of people living with cancer report that their emotional and mental health has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 66% reporting that the pandemic has made caregiving harder overall.
• According to the researchers, almost half of the caregivers surveyed responded that the people they are caring for rely on them more than ever before, with 94% of respondents indicating that they put the needs of the person they care for above their own during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• More than one-third of survey participants report feeling as though they have no one to turn to for support, whereas 83% indicated they are themselves relied on for emotional support by the person they care for.
• Nearly all of those surveyed agreed that more support was needed to cope with emotional stress, with 94% responding that more mental/wellness resources need to be readily available.

Source: Pharmacy Times

4- Anti-Inflammatory Medication Serves Important Role in Treating Pediatric Patients With COVID-19

• Anti-inflammatory agents, including corticosteroids and intravenous immune globulin (IVIG), serve an important role in the treatment of severe pediatric cases of COVID-19, according to a study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.
• IVIG also has an important therapeutic role in cases with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), the researchers said.
• The study consisted of a metanalysis of 97 case studies evaluating the management of COVID-19 cases in children with 18 shortlisted medications.
• According to the investigators, 91% of severe pediatric cases received some anti-inflammatory medications, with 17.5% receiving IVIG and 17% receiving corticosteroids.
• The investigators found that 79% of children in these studies were managed conservatively or with symptomatic treatment alone, with the remaining 21% receiving at least 1 medication specifically used for COVID-19.

Source: Pharmacy Times

5 – Consider a Career Move to Remote Medication Therapy Management

• COVID-19 drastically changed the pharmacy work environment, including an expansion of telehealth services that has opened new opportunities for pharmacists to work remotely.
• There was a 154% increase in telehealth visits during the last week of March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a CDC report.
• Telehealth is an effective way for pharmacists to provide services while enhancing patient care, evidence shows.
• One study evaluated the effect of a pharmacist telephone intervention on nonadherent patients with diabetes and hypertension who were enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan.
• The study results showed that the pharmacist telephone intervention resulted in significantly better medication refill adherence, which was measured by proportion of days covered during the 6 months following the phone consult.
• Additionally, there were lower discontinuation rates among patients with diabetes and hypertension.

Source: Pharmacy Times

6 – Generic Variations Linked to Severe COVID-19 Cases

• Genetic variations linked to severe cases of COVID-19 affect our immune cells, results of a study lead by the La Jolla Institute (LJI) for Immunology showed.
• Genetic variants called polymorphisms are associated with gene expression and appear to influence case severity, according to a press release.
• Investigators report that a gene in a cell type called non-classical monocytes, a type of innate immune cell that signals molecule to alert other immune cells to threats, could be a potential target for COVID-19 therapies.
• They identified several important associations of genetic variants, and among them was a risk variant that affected 12 of the 13 cell types studied.
• The severe COVID-19 risk variants in chromosome 21 were associated with reduced expression of a receptor on IFNAR2 cells.
• A risk variant on chromosome 12 had the strongest effect in non-classical monocytes where it reduced the expression of the OAS1 gene.
• The results could guide the development of new COVID-19 therapies to boost cell immunity.

Source: Pharmacy Times

• Read more from FADIC Blog, with many articles with evidence based articles.
• Learn More Through FADIC® – Online Programs & Mini-Courses.
• Listen Now to FADIC Podcast focusing on varieties of pharmacist perspectives in specialties.
• Read More Now about FADIC Pharmacy Events to get more Experience.

Course Copyrights:

All Courses is meant for SINGLE user use only.
If more than one person acceced this course, they will be BLOCKED Forever.

Why FADIC 2020 Pharmacotherapy Daily News (FNN) ?

• It helps to keep up with the literature!
• Provide you with the Updated with the latest in your clinical practice. Wherever you are, and Whenever you need!
• Help you to share in the advance in clinical career. In addition to adding an impressive image to the pharmacists all-around!

Subscribe to FADIC 2021 Pharmacy Practice FNN E-News, for publication of:

Read & Download FNN Issue 8 of April 2020 FNN News