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OPERATIONS & MGMT The case for health-system specialty pharmacy ...............4
Clinic-Embedded Pharmacists Bridge The Biosimilars Gap By Karen Blum
PHOENIX— Although
CLINICAL ISMP issues peri-op med safety guidelines................... 12
Weight control among benefits of diabetes Rx ..... 18
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biosimilars have been available for infliximab (Remicade, Janssen) for approximately five years, uptake across the country has been slow, partly due to provider hesitancy, according to researchers at Rhode Island Hospital, in Providence. But by adding pharmacists into the management mix, use of biosimilars can be significantly increased, they reported at the 2022 ASHP Summer Meetings and Exhibition (poster 41M). Specifically, patients who were managed by a provider with a pharmacist affiliation were 39% more likely to use a biosimilar than those who weren’t, said lead study author Erin Connolly, PharmD, a PGY-2 ambulatory care pharmacy resident at the hospital. Continued on page 3
One health system’s experience navigating monkeypox supply chain challenges PharmacyPracticeNews.com REVIEW ARTICLE
Practical Considerations For Implementing Biosimilars in Oncology Practice
Volume 49 • Number 9 • September 2022
Fauci and Biden Aside, Rebound After Paxlovid Rare By Dan Hurley
T
he return of COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test after treatment with nirmatrelvir+ritonavir (Paxlovid, Pfizer) remains a rare and mild phenomenon that should not dissuade clinicians from recommending the potentially lifesaving drug combination, according to specialists, the CDC and the FDA. In fact, based on the results of a retrospective study involving the health records of 13,644 people, the odds of both President Joe Biden and Anthony Fauci, MD, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, developing COVID-19 rebound after treatment with nirmatrelvir+ritonavir were astonishingly long. Only 3.53% of patients Continued on page 8
Primary Care Setting Triples Use of 2 New Diabetes Rx Classes
ISMP Releases 3 Best Practices For Ensuring Safe Use of Meds
By Karen Blum
By Karen Blum and David Bronstein
PHOENIX—Pharmacists can signif-
PHOENIX—Safer use of oxytocin, barcode
icantly increase the use of guideline-recommended sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) and bolster clinical outcomes in diabetes, according to a study presented at the 2022 ASHP Summer Meetings and Exhibition. Patients seen by a pharmacist for type 2 diabetes management during the study were three times as likely to be prescribed an SGLT2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 RA as those managed
verification beyond inpatient units and prevention strategies to reduce harm from highalert medications are the subjects of three new targeted medication safety best practices for hospitals from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). These updates for 2022-2023 were presented at the 2022 ASHP Summer Meetings and Exhibition. The new best practices are as follows: 1. Safeguard against oxytocin errors. Oxytocin and its analogs are commonly administered for induction and augmentation of labor as well as to prevent and treat
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Accompanies this issue.
postpartum bleeding, said Christina Michalek, RPh, the administrative coordinator for ISMP’s Medication Safety Officers Society. When prescribed improperly, it can cause hyperstimulation of the uterus, potentially resulting in fetal distress and the need for an emergency cesarean delivery, she said. ISMP Canada reviewed 144 oxytocinrelated events reported to its database in 2019. Most events occurred during administration, but issues also were found around preparation and storage, IV administration, and communication and documentation, Ms. Michalek said. Following suit, ISMP conducted its own review in 2020, analyzing 54 Continued on page 9