Calling All SD
Area Pharmacists Interested in Providing Diabetes
Services…
The California agency which regulates HMOs is in
the midst of an effort to improve health plan scores related to the management
of diabetes and heart disease. They are currently exploring possible
intervention strategies which could be incorporated into a demonstration project
that may be executed in the greater San
Diego area. We’ve been asked to collect information
about San Diego
area pharmacies and pharmacists who have an interest in providing patient care
services under an Asheville-like
diabetes management program. If you live or work in the San Diego area and have
such an interest, please email Michael Negrete at mnegrete@pharmacyfoundation.org.
Invigorate Your
Organization with Live CE Programs
Having the ability to bring people
together is critical to the success of any association. For many organizations,
this is largely accomplished through the delivery of live CE programs. CPhA and
the Pharmacy Foundation of California are inviting leaders form local pharmacy
associations to participate in a free tele-seminar that will improve their
ability to organize and execute quality CE programs for their constituents.
During this one-hour call, participants will discover the many resources already
available to support their CE efforts, as well as how to avoid common mistakes
that can put their organization's ability to provide CE in jeopardy. If you are
a leader in your local association, and would like to participate in this call,
please send an email to csmith@pharmacyfoundation.org.
Pharmacy Owners:
“Got Flu Protocol?”
The Pharmacy Foundation of CA is
surveying pharmacy owners about their perceptions and abilities related to
finding a physician to sign an influenza vaccination protocol for their
pharmacy. Data from this survey will inform our development of tools and
resources designed to help independent pharmacies better serve their patients. A
link to the online survey was emailed to owners earlier this week. If you are an
owner but have not received an email with a link to the survey, please notifyIan Tandingan at itandingan@pharmacyfoundation.org.
Pharmacy
Foundation of CA Supports National Patient Safety Day
Saturday, July 25 is “National
Patient Safety Day” – a nationwide effort to encourage patients and caregiver
take an active role in healthcare. To assist consumers in this regard, PFC has
posted on its website, a two-page
guide which lists various safe medication use behaviors that patients and
caregivers can practice to help prevent unnecessary medication harm. National
Patient Safety Day also provides a good opportunity to think of those people who
have been affected by a medical error and pay tribute to those healthcare
workers who make it a part of their jobs to prevent such errors. Many
healthcare facilities, patients, and consumers honor the day by observing a
moment silence at 6
p.m. in their time zone and drive with their headlights on. More information
about National Patient Safety Day can be found at www.patientsafetyday.com.
PFC CEO Invited
to Join Panel of Experts for New Dr. Oz
Show
This fall will see the launch of a
new Oprah Winfrey Show spin-off
starring Oprah regular, Dr. Mehmet Oz. The
Dr. Oz show will be presented as a multi-segment health and wellness
talk show that offers topical, newsworthy information and inspiring stories.
The show is assembling a panel of experts they can regularly consult with to
better understand health issues affecting average Americans. In their efforts
to identify pharmacy experts, show producers contacted APhA who in turn invited
PFC CEO, Michael Negrete to be their west coast contact. This should prove to
be a great opportunity for the Pharmacy Foundation to broaden their education of
consumers about the importance of safer medication use practices and the
critical roles their pharmacists can play to prevent medication
harm.
Half of Parents
Misinterpret OTC Cough and Cold Medication
Labels
Last year, the FDA advised parents
to avoid giving OTC cough and cold medications to children under 2 because the
risk for unintentional overdose outweighed the potential benefits for symptom
relief. But according to a new study in the June issue of Pediatrics,
parents are too often led to believe these medications appropriate for infants
because of packaging that contains “child friendly graphics.” The study's
authors said the FDA should "ban misleading graphics on all OTC-product
packaging" to "help prevent significant harm to children," but medication safety
experts say the focus on labeling, while important, might distract from more
effective harm-prevention strategies. According to Mathew Grissinger from ISMP,
physicians seeing parents with infants should be encouraged to warn them against
the use of cough and cold medications, and pharmacists should be positioned to
have more time to counsel parents.
Consumer
Awareness Is an Active Ingredient in
Self-Medication
Last month, an advisory panel urged
the Food and Drug Administration to lower the maximum over-the-counter dosage
for acetaminophen. The recommendation came on the heels of an FDA report that
found acetaminophen can cause severe liver damage when used in excess of
recommended dosages.The panel's advice highlights a problem the Institute of Medicine addressed in the report Preventing Medication Errors: Quality Chasm
Series. The report focused on assessing and improving the quality of
the nation’s health care and suggests that the most powerful strategy for
improving the safety of medication use is encouraging a strong patient-provider
relationship that fully engages the patient’s attention when it comes to
medication. The complete text of the IOM report is available from the National
Academies website.
Meetings of
Pharmacy Foundation Directors and Corporate Advisory
Board
Last Wednesday, the Pharmacy Foundation of California
(PFC) held the first formal meeting of its 2009 Corporate Advisory Board, which
was followed by this year’s second meeting of the PFC Board of Directors. Both
groups received updates regarding the planned CE
programming and schedule for Outlook 2010 (February 4-7 in Long Beach, California), and heard presentations from
groups who could play a potential role in PFC’s efforts to educate the public
about safer medication use practices (iGuard and the Partnership for Safe Medicines). The
California Department of Managed Health Care also attended a portion of the
meeting to discuss their Right Care
Initiative, and request support for developing a pharmacist care component
of a diabetes management demonstration project.
Article Based on
PFC Research Selected for Publication
As part of its efforts to promote
safer medication use practices among consumers, the Pharmacy Foundation of
California conducted a survey last year of 250 female family caregivers. The
purpose of the survey was to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors
of this population related to a loved one’s potential for experiencing
medication-related harm. Dr. John Skhal from the California Northstate College of Pharmacy, and Dr. Dennis Tootelian from the
Sacramento State College of Business Administration wrote an article about the
study which has been selected for publication in the fall 2010 issue of Health
Marketing Quarterly.
PFC CEO Invited
to Speak at the CA Assn. for Adult Day Services
Convention
This week, Michael Negrete was
recruited by the CAADS to provide a presentation at their annual meeting about
medication harm in the outpatient setting and strategies caregivers can pursue
to prevent it. The convention will
be held in Long
Beach on November 18-20. Any groups wishing to host a
program on a similar topic are encourage to contact Michael Negrete @ mnegrete@pharmacyfoundation.org.
We Need Your
Medication Errors Stories!
Last Tuesday, the Pharmacy
Foundation was contacted by the Today Show for help on a story
that ran this week on drug interactions. The producers were specifically
looking to find an individual willing to speak on camera about serious harm they
or a loved one experienced because of an interaction. The media believes these
kinds of interviews are critical to making a story credible and relevant to
viewers, and they frequently contact PFC in search of such interviews.
Unfortunately, PFC is almost always unable to facilitate these kinds of
connections, so the Foundation has begun an effort to proactively identify
individuals who have a compelling story to share. If you are willing to speak
to the media about a preventable medication problem that YOU experienced, please
send your contact information to mnegrete@pharmacyfoundation.org
with a short description of your story.
Concentrated
Acetaminophen Drops Recalled
Brookstone Pharmaceuticals, LLC,
Alpharetta, GA has initiated a nationwide voluntary recall of all lots of
Concentrated Acetaminophen Drops (NDC#42192-504-16) in 16 ounce (473 ml) bulk
containers. This 16oz container is comparable to the size generally used to
package regular strength acetaminophen liquid preparations. This aspect of the
product coupled with the absence of an integrated dosage delivery device is a
contributing factor to possible dosing errors, especially inadvertent
overdosing. The full press release about the recall can be viewed on the FDA’s
website.
Pharmacy
Foundation CEO Interviewed by Woman’s Day
Earlier today, Michael Negrete was
interviewed by a reporter from Woman’s Day on an article about the importance of
medication adherence and medication expiration dates. This article supports
PFC’s medication safety initiative to provide female family caregivers with the
information and tools they need to promote safer medication use among their
children, spouses and aging parents. Look for the article to appear next week
on www.womansday.com.
Infants and
Medication Errors
According study published this week
in the journal Pediatrics, Infants <1 year of age were most
frequently reported in cardiovascular medication errors reaching
inpatients, in a national, voluntary, error-reporting database. Most
errors were related to medication administration, largely due to
improper dosing. The research team said that certain medication errors in
children can be reduced or prevented by computerizing drug orders with built-in
double-and triple-checking mechanisms that reduce the likelihood for
miscalculation or misinterpretation.
Did Medication
Play a Role in Michael Jackson’s Death?
Further details concerning the
extent of Michael Jackson's medication intake have emerged with reports that he
ordered staff to get him prescription drugs and traveled to other states to
obtain more pills. Broadcaster CNN said it had seen confidential documents from
2004 that revealed the lengths the pop star would go to get pharmaceuticals. It
also stated that Jackson was on 10 Xanax pills a night. The use
of the drug, usually taken to treat panic disorders, will add to speculation
that medication may have led to the death of the King of Pop