Convalescent Plasma Strikes Out As COVID-19 Treatment
Infusing blood plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 into sick patients looks good on paper. But studies of the treatment haven't found benefits. More
Prevalence of Central Nervous System–Active Polypharmacy Among Older Adults With Dementia in the US
This pharmacoepidemiology study uses Medicare claims data to describe the prevalence of central nervous system–active polypharmacy among community-dwelling older adults with dementia in the US, including durations of exposure and number of drugs and drug classes. More
Researchers Attempt to Reduce the Placebo Effect in Drug Trials
Pharmaceutical company researchers develop a tool to suppress the placebo effect and improve their drug results. More
Opinion: Too many medicines can be its own medical hazard
Over-medication can be dangerous and patients should consult with medical professions to ensure an effective plan of treatment, Dr. Bob Newman writes in a guest column. More
Comparison of Palliative Care Delivery in the Last Year of Life Between Adults With Terminal Noncancer Illness or Cancer
This cohort study examines the delivery of palliative care among adults in their last year of life who died of terminal noncancer illness compared with those who died of cancer. More
Widely used convalescent plasma treatment doesn’t stop COVID-19 patients from getting sicker, study finds
The treatment was authorized for emergency use last summer, but clinical trials showed plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients didn't help fight illness. More
Study: Women often receive improper UTI antibiotic Rx
Nearly three fourths of US women with an uncomplicated urinary tract infection get antibiotics longer than necessary. More
How pharmacists can be deprescribing heroes
How can we remove the barriers and make pharmacists our deprescribing heroes? In their recent piece in Senior Care Pharmacist, Judith Garber and Don Downing create a roadmap for collaboration. More
Employers Cut Health Costs With Incentives for Patients, Doctors
Employers can cut their health-care expenses by paying top medical providers a flat rate for a bundle of related services while offering incentives to the patients who use them, a study suggests. More
Adverse Drug Events After Hospitalization—Are We Missing the Mark?
At least 20% of older adults will experience an adverse event in the weeks following hospitalization, with most being secondary to adverse drug-related events (ADEs). Of these, half are considered preventable or ameliorable. More
Another Failed Study of “Personalized” Depression Treatment
Due to lackluster antidepressant study results, researchers test if subgroups of depressed patients show greater improvement. More
Could Efforts to Fight the Coronavirus Lead to Overuse of Antibiotics?
Study shows more than half of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in U.S. received antibiotics in pandemic’s first six months More
Evidence conflicts over efficacy of monoclonal antibodies in severe COVID
"We are left with evidence of benefit from interleukin-6 inhibitors, at least under some circumstances." More
Emerging Lessons From COVID-19 for the US Clinical Research Enterprise
In this issue of JAMA, Janiaud et al present a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of convalescent plasma for the treatment of patients with COVID-19. More
Assessment of Outcomes Associated With the Use of Newly Approved Oncology Drugs in Medicare Beneficiaries
This cohort study evaluates the differences in survival, duration of therapy, and treatment patterns between clinical trial patients and older adults with Medicare receiving cancer drugs for metastatic solid cancers in usual practice. More
Overuse in Medicare slow to change, study finds
A recent analysis in JAMA finds that overuse in Medicare barely budged from 2014-2018. How can we move further toward value-based care? More
Approval and Coverage of Cancer Drugs in England, Canada, and the US
Most drug approvals are based on surrogate markers, such as tumor shrinkage in a fraction of patients (response rate) or delayed tumor growth (progression-free survival). These surrogates use arbitrary percentage cutoffs and are not optimized to ensure that a drug can improve the length or quality of life. More
What Americans Don’t Know About Their Medications
People who have faced debilitating side effects say we need better warnings on drugs. The FDA hasn’t been enthusiastic. More
Assessment of Outpatient Dispensing of Products Proposed for Treatment or Prevention of COVID-19 by US Retail Pharmacies During the Pandemic
This cross-sectional study examines changes in the outpatient retail dispensing frequency of proposed treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 after the March 13, 2020, declaration of a national emergency due to the pandemic. More
‘A natural experiment’: Pandemic-driven drop in cancer screening may aid research on overdiagnosis
The government will fund reseach asking whether cancer patients "really do worse because of being diagnosed later" during the pandemic. More