PDM Healthcare Partners with PPOK/RxLinc

At PDM Healthcare, we take great pride in providing you with the best service and cost savings for you. PDM offers another NEW SERVICE to the healthcare industry.

PPOK/RxLinc is owned and operated by community pharmacists. They understand the unique needs of independent community pharmacy and are dedicated to the development of valuable programs tailored to meet those needs.

As part of PDM Healthcare, through third party contracting, Switch, PPE, ePrescribe, electronic reconciliation and more, PPOK aspires to provide enhanced reimbursement, improved cash flow and exciting new opportunities!

Diabetes Drug Harms Heart

According to confidential government reports that recommend the drug Avandia be removed from the market, hundreds of people taking the drug needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month.

The reports say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart. Avandia is known as rosiglitazone and was linked to 304 deaths during 2009.

Avandia is intended to treat Type 2 diabetes.

Source: New York Times, MSNBC, February 20, 2010

Deadly Hybrid Flu Possible

Research has shown in mice that the avian flu virus and the ordinary seasonal flu virus could combine to create a new deadly kind of flu.

A single bit of genetic material from the seasonal virus converted the avian flu - officially known as H5N1 - into a very dangerous form, the scientists report in a study. Yoshihiro Kawaoka, study senior author, stated, “Some hybrids between H5N1 virus and seasonal influenza viruses were more pathogenic than the original H5N1 viruses. That is worrisome.”

According to the World Health Organization, avian flu, also known as bird flu, has killed 262 people but it has not become very infectious between people. The researchers warn that swine flu - H1N1 - could also play a role in viral combinations.

Kawaoka concluded, “With the new pandemic H1N1 virus, people sort of forgot about H5N1 avian influenza. But the reality is that H5N1 avian virus is still out there. Our data suggests that it is possible there may be reassortment between H5N1 and pandemic H1N1 that can create a more pathogenic H5N1 virus.”

Source: Associated Press, February 22, 2010

Anti-HIV Drug Combo Poses Heart Risk

The U.S. FDA warned that two anti-drugs pose potential heart risks when used together. Taken in combination, Norvir (Abbott Laboratories) and Invirase (Roche), can alter electrical activity of the heart. The result may be irregular heart rhythms that can trigger fainting and even death.

Invirase was approved 15 years ago. It is prescribed with Norvir and other anti-viral drugs to control HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in adults.

The FDA said its information comes from data submitted by Roche and noted its review is continuing.

Source: Health Day News, February 23, 2010

Seasonal Flu Vaccine to Protect Against Swine Flu

A U.S. FDA advisory panel said the 2010-2011 seasonal flu vaccine will include protection against H1N1 swine flu, which means people will not have to get separate shots.

In a unanimous vote, the committee agreed that the pandemic H1N1 flu should replace the H1N1 strain used in last year’s vaccine.

Health experts meet each year to select the three most commonly circulating flu strains to be included in the seasonal flu vaccine. It is normal for the FDA advisory committee’s recommendations to be adopted and used to guide vaccine manufacturers.

Source: Health Day News, February 22, 2010

Menveo Vaccine Approved for Bacterial Meningitis

The Novartis vaccine Menveo has been approved to prevent bacterial meningitis and other health problems caused by meningococcal disease.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the membrane that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Infection with meningococcal bacteria affects more than 500,000 people each year, resulting in 50,000 deaths worldwide. As many as 3,000 cases of meningococcal disease per year are diagnosed in the United States.

Even with early treatment, bacterial meningitis and related conditions may progress quickly and may kill within 48 hours of when symptoms begin. About one in five survivors has permanent side effects, which may include limb amputations, seizures, paralysis, hearing loss and learning disabilities.

Menveo is based on the same technology as the company’s Menjugate meningococcal vaccine, approved outside the United States since 2000.

Source: Drug Source News, February 22, 2010

Drug Companies Help Fund Doctors’ Schooling

According to a survey, drug industry money was accepted by 55% of U.S. medical residency programs that train doctors in internal medicine. This high level of financial support from drug makers occurred even though about 75% of the 236 internal medicine program directors who took part in the survey said such aid was “not desirable.”

Among other findings:
In programs that accepted funding, drug companies paid for educational materials in 83% of the programs, meals in 90%, office supplies in 68% and drug samples in 57%.
Drug industry money was accepted by 72% of medical residency programs in the southern United States, compared with 47% in the Northeast.
The 55% overall rate of accepting drug industry money was down from the 88% level reported in a 1990 survey.

Source: Business Wire, February 22, 2010

Tests to Measure Safety of Anti-Clotting Drugs

Tests that try to single out who will have bleeding problems when they get a clot-preventing drug such as Plavix before surgery are not ready for regular use. Three of the six tests, which measure the function of platelets, did provide some useful information.

None of the tests provided accurate prognostic information to identify patients at higher risk of bleeding. The conclusion did not surprise U.S. doctors who have studied the issue. Dr. Deppak Bhatt, chief of cardiology at the VA Boston Healthcare System, said, “For my purposes, these tests are research tools. The study is well done and a valuable contribution to the field. It shows just how much different tests add to clinical judgment.” The study is a starting point for understanding a complex clinical situation.

Source: Drug Source News, February 23, 2010