Adverse Effects of Common Drugs: General Concepts.

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) contribute to substantial morbidity and mortality and add to rising health care costs. Many ADRs are preventable with appropriate prescribing and monitoring because they often occur as an extension of a drug's mechanism of action or known drug interactions. Patients at higher risk of ADRs include those at the extremes of age, those with multiple comorbidities, those taking multiple drugs, and patients admitted to intensive care units or experiencing transitions of care. Because the risk of ADRs becomes greater as the number of drugs and dietary supplements taken increases, it is imperative that prescribers be vigilant about the prescribing cascade and take steps to discontinue drugs that are likely to be more harmful than helpful. Pharmacists serve as important partners in clinical care environments by conducting comprehensive drug reviews, aiding in drug/dosage selection, and developing therapeutic monitoring plans. Although the potential exists for clinicians to use electronic health record systems to aid in clinical decision making through drug safety decision support tools, computer systems should never replace clinical judgment. Clinicians also are encouraged to report ADRs to the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System.

Adverse Effects of Common Drugs: Children and Adolescents.

Drug use and harms are increasingly common among newborns, infants, children, and adolescents during ambulatory practice, emergency department, and in-hospital treatment, including treatment in pediatric intensive care units. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic parameters of drugs often are different for children compared with adults and must be considered before prescribing. Drug exposure and the potential for harms also should be considered for fetuses and breastfeeding infants. As with adult patients, a thorough drug and allergy history (including nonprescription drugs and herbal and dietary supplements) should be obtained and reviewed at each medical visit. Children and adolescents are increasingly at risk of drug harm/overdose through accidental or intentional ingestion of nonprescription and prescription drugs (eg, cough and cold preparations, candy-appearing vitamins, stimulants, narcotics). Parents and caregivers should receive training in the proper use, storage, and administration of all drugs. Prescribing clinicians should be vigilant in withholding unnecessary drugs, such as antibiotics for viral infections. When prescribing, clinicians should be aware of common drugs frequently associated with adverse reactions, including stimulants, antipsychotics, analgesics, asthma therapies, acne therapies, and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors. Scientifically based prescribing practices should be used and consultation with evidence-based resources and pharmacists sought as needed.

Adverse Effects of Common Drugs: Dietary Supplements.

Dietary supplement-induced adverse effects often resolve quickly after discontinuation of the offending product, especially in younger patients. The potential for unwanted outcomes can be amplified in elderly patients or those taking multiple prescription drugs, especially where interactions exist with drugs metabolized by cytochrome P450 enzymes. Attributing injury or illness to a specific supplement can be challenging, especially in light of multi-ingredient products, product variability, and variability in reporting, as well as the vast underreporting of adverse drug reactions. Clinicians prescribing a new drug or evaluating a patient with a new symptom complex should inquire about use of herbal and dietary supplements as part of a comprehensive evaluation. Clinicians should report suspected supplement-related adverse effects to the local or state health department, as well as the Food and Drug Administration's MedWatch program (available at https://www.safetyreporting.hhs.gov). Clinicians should consider discussing suspected adverse effects involving drugs, herbal products, or dietary supplements with their community- and hospital-based pharmacists, and explore patient management options with medical or clinical toxicology subspecialists.

Adverse Effects of Common Drugs: Adults.

Although drugs can be an essential and lifesaving component of the care of adult patients, their use frequently is accompanied by adverse effects and life-threatening adverse drug reactions that can result in significant disability and mortality. The potential for drug-related severe morbidity and mortality is compounded during periods of hospitalization, when high-risk drugs such as anticoagulants or insulin are used, and when care in an intensive care unit is required. Patient factors in adults that can increase the risk of drug harms include immunosuppression, cognitive impairment, depression, alcoholism and other substance abuse disorders, chronic kidney disease, hepatic dysfunction, coagulopathies, limited English proficiency, institutional/nursing home care, and underinsurance or lack of insurance. Physician factors that can increase the risk of drug harms include inappropriate prescribing of drugs (including to pregnant and breastfeeding women), failure to appropriately discontinue/deprescribe drugs, insufficient drug reconciliation, failure to coordinate care among multiple prescribing clinicians, and failure to elicit and incorporate into health histories and clinical decision-making the widespread use of nonprescription drugs, herbal products, and dietary supplements.

Creating a virtual pharmacology curriculum in a problem-based learning environment: one medical school's experience.

Integrating pharmacology education into a problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum has proven challenging for many medical schools, including the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine (Penn State COM). In response to pharmacology content gaps in its PBL-intensive curriculum, Penn State COM in 2003 hired a director of medical pharmacology instruction to oversee efforts to improve the structure of pharmacology education in the absence of a stand-alone course. In this article, the authors describe the ongoing development of the virtual pharmacology curriculum, which weaves pharmacology instruction through the entire medical school curriculum with particular emphasis on the organ-based second year. Pharmacology is taught in a spiraling manner designed to add to and build upon students' knowledge and competency. Key aspects of the virtual curriculum (as of 2011) include clearly stated and behaviorally oriented pharmacology learning objectives, pharmacology study guides that correspond to each PBL case, pharmacology review sessions that feature discussions of United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)-type questions, and pharmacology questions for each PBL case on course examinations to increase student accountability. The authors report a trend toward improved USMLE Step 1 scores since these initiatives were introduced. Furthermore, graduates' ratings of their pharmacology education have improved on the Medical School Graduation Questionnaire. The authors suggest that the initiatives they describe for enhancing pharmacology medical education are relevant to other medical schools that are also seeking ways to better integrate pharmacology into PBL-based curricula.

Examining utilization of a natural medicine Web-based tool among non-primary care physicians, academic faculty, and nurses at one institution.

BACKGROUND: Consumer use of herbal and natural products (H/NP) is increasing, yet physicians may be unprepared to provide guidance because of lack of educational training. This knowledge deficit may place consumers at risk of adverse effects. We had previously evaluated the impact of a natural medicine Web-based resource on primary care providers at our institution. OBJECTIVES: To ascertain the value of an H/NP Web-based resource to non-primary care physicians, academic faculty, and nurses practicing within a hospital setting. METHODS: Non-primary care physicians, academic faculty, and nurses at our medical center were invited to complete an electronic survey 1 year after access to an H/NP clinical decision tool had been obtained. RESULTS: Survey responses were obtained from 226 of 2720 (8%) individuals invited to participate. Overall, respondents indicated a relatively low comfort level (mean 3.5 [2.28] [SD] on a 10-point scale) in discussing H/NP prior to introduction of the electronic H/NP resource. Following a year-long trial subscription to an evidence-based H/NP electronic resource, 29% of physician and nurse survey respondents (60 of 207) reported use of the tool. These individuals ranked their comfort level with H/NP discussions at a 6.96 [1.76] on a 10-point scale. Seventy-six percent of physicians (16 of 21) and 72% of nurses (28 of 39) who had used the tool indicated that because of the resource, they were more likely to ask patients about H/NP use when taking a drug history; 44% (23 of 52) had been able to intervene when a patient was using an H/NP deemed to be unsafe. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that an evidence-based H/NP resource boosts physician and nursing comfort in discussing H/NP with patients and enables interventions to be made. Such H/NP clinical decision tools have potential to improve patient care.

Clinical utility of probiotics in inflammatory bowel disease.

Many patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) use probiotics to manage this intestinal condition. Despite widespread use of these natural therapies by patients, health care providers may be unfamiliar with probiotics as a treatment modality. This review describes the rationale for use of probiotics in IBD, the history behind current research directions, and recent controlled clinical studies in which efficacy of probiotics has been explored in patients with IBD. Emphasis is placed upon critical analysis of study designs for investigations that used lactic acid-producing bacteria or Saccharomyces boulardii in management of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. While there is suggestion of benefit when patients with ulcerative colitis use bacterial therapies and when patients with Crohn's disease use S boulardii, small sample sizes and methodological flaws in study designs necessitate that additional investigations be conducted before probiotics can be routinely recommended in clinical practice.

Probiotics for Clostridium difficile diarrhea: putting it into perspective.

Clostridium difficile diarrhea is an expensive, life-threatening infection associated with serious morbidity and mortality, even among previously healthy individuals. Relapses from the infection are common following standard antibiotic treatments, with 3-5% of patients who contract C. difficile diarrhea unable to discontinue vancomycin due to continual relapses. Such patients may have a focal immunodeficiency in which they fail to mount an immune response against C. difficile. For these individuals, antimicrobial therapies are unable to eradicate the microorganism because no antibiotics are capable of killing C. difficile spores. Although they are considered alternative medicine, probiotics have provided a safe and effective means of restoring gastrointestinal flora and alleviating diarrhea, particularly for individuals experiencing multiple relapses.

Pharmacist critique was ill-informed.

Pharmacists' ability to exercise "professional right of conscience" in dispensing emergency contraception, as well as the professionalism of pharmacists, has fallen under attack recently by the media, by state governments, and even by other healthcare professionals in published commentaries. This editorial discusses the controversy surrounding emergency contraceptives, the right of pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions that they consider morally objectionable, and the responsibility of pharmacists to provide medications in a timely and professional manner. The professionalism of pharmacy is also examined in light of the expanded scope of practice in which pharmacists increasingly find themselves practicing.