E-DRUG: Independent Drug and Healthcare Newsletter for July 2020
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Newsletter, July 2020
Independent Drug & Healthcare Newsletter from the non-profit journal
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In Prescrire's Spotlight this month :
FEATURED REVIEW Andexanet alfa (Ondexxya°) as an antidote to xabans: inadequate clinical evaluation
The evaluation of andexanet alfa for the management of severe bleeding in patients receiving apixaban or rivaroxaban is inadequate. When bleeding occurs in a patient receiving a xaban, the key action is to put in place proven emergency supportive measures.
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FREE DOWNLOAD In the July-August issue of Prescrire International: aflibercept (Eylea°) in diabetic macular oedema without visual impairment
What is the efficacy of aflibercept in patients with diabetic macular oedema without visual impairment at the time of diagnosis? Full article available for free download.
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Proper evaluation, for patients' sake
Proper drug evaluation, based on trials designed to provide sufficiently high-level evidence and conclusive results, using patient-relevant clinical outcomes, is the best way of ensuring that drugs are used judiciously, without causing unnecessary harm. Full article available for free download.
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Pulmonary arterial hypertension: sometimes drug-induced
Many drugs can cause pulmonary arterial hypertension, which sometimes improves when treatment is halted.
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Prescrire's annual drug packaging review: slow progress and dangers
The drug packaging market is improving, but there are also still many examples as of 2020 that pose a danger to patients, in particular children and pregnant women. These flaws affect prescribers, pharmacists and nurses through the complications they cause. Full article available for free download.
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Illustrated examples of dangerous drug packaging, from Prescrire's annual packaging review
A drug's packaging (box, bottle, leaflet, etc.) is crucial in preventing administration errors. Three examples from Prescrire's annual drug packaging review illustrate the types of packaging flaws we identified as dangerous in 2019, flaws which have long been known to health authorities.
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Increased risk of skin cancer with hydrochlorothiazide: what are the practical consequences?
In 2018, Prescrire reported the findings of two case-control studies that showed an increased risk of non-melanoma skin cancers in patients treated with hydrochlorothiazide, a first-choice antihypertensive drug. Does the evidence available in 2020 affect this drug's harm-benefit balance in hypertension?
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Intra-articular hyaluronic acid injection for knee osteoarthritis: efficacy and adverse effects underestimated?
Prescrire concluded in 2016 that the harm-benefit balance of hyaluronic acid by intra-articular injection seemed unfavourable. Several readers have since expressed their profound disagreement, citing the effects noted in their daily practice. How can such a difference be explained? Could the clinical data available in 2020 potentially call Prescrire's conclusions into question?
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COMING SOON Enjoy these features, and more, in our upcoming issues
Apalutamide and enzalutamide in non-metastatic prostate cancer * Cannabidiol in certain severe forms of childhood epilepsy * Melatonin for sleep disorders in children with autism * Drug-induced priapism * VEGF inhibitors: arterial aneurysm * Proton pump inhibitors in infants...
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