U.S. Pharmacist Weekly News

May 8, 2024

Concerns Raised About Polypharmacy for T2D Patients

Many patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) not only take medication to control blood glucose but also additional medications to treat a range of comorbidities. One result is that the prevalence of polypharmacy is high. The prevalence increased from 35.1% among diabetes patients from 1999–2002 to 47.2% (in 2003–2006 and further to 51.1% recently), according to a new study. Read more.

Upping Smoking Cessation Drug Dosages Help Smokers Quit

What is the next step when the first attempt at smoking cessation fails? A new study advises that smokers who failed to quit with varenicline initially were seven times more likely to quit if varenicline dosages were increased. Find out what happened when patients were switched from a combined nicotine replacement therapy to varenicline.

Metformin Can Decrease COVID-19 Viral Load

COVID-19 viral load can be decreased by taking a drug that already is in the medicine cabinets of about 20 million Americans. A study found that metformin—the widely prescribed diabetes drug—appears to be valuable in lowering the amount of COVID-19 virus in the body and also decreasing the chances of the virus coming back strongly after initial treatment. Read more.

IV-to-PO Antibiotic Switch in Gram-Negative Bloodstream Infections

Switching from IV to PO antibiotics has numerous advantages, including reductions in length of hospital stay and decreases in the risk of bloodstream infection, venous thromboembolism, catheter occlusion, and phlebitis and lower drug cost. However, there is often reluctance to perform IV-to-PO switches in patients with gram-negative bloodstream infections due to concern over treatment failure. Read more.