Managing Hepatitis C in Users of Illicit Drugs.
Managing Hepatitis C in Users of Illicit Drugs.
Curr Hepat Rep. 2007; 6(2): 60-67
Edlin BR, Carden MR, Ferrando SJ
Persons who inject illicit drugs are the group most severely affected by the hepatitis C epidemic but the least likely to receive treatment. Controlling the epidemic will require developing strategies for effectively treating drug users. A growing number of reports have shown that a substantial proportion of drug users treated for hepatitis C can achieve sustained virologic responses even if they have psychiatric comorbidity and even if they continue to use drugs while receiving hepatitis C treatment. Successfully treating hepatitis C in injection drug users requires collaboration between those with expertise in hepatitis and those with expertise in caring for substance users. Careful attention to management of adverse effects and strong links with mental health services are important. Further research is needed to better define which patients can be successfully treated and the program elements that are critical for success. In the meantime, substantial progress can be made using current knowledge if appropriate resources are brought to bear. HubMed – drug
Pneumothorax as an Adverse Drug Event: An Exploratory Aggregate Analysis of the US FDA AERS Database Including a Confounding by Indication Analysis Inspired by Cornfield’s Condition.
Int J Med Sci. 2013; 10(8): 965-73
Hauben M, Hung EY
Introduction: Pneumothorax is either primary or secondary. Secondary pneumothorax is usually due to trauma, including various non-pharmacologic iatrogenic triggers. Although not normally thought of as an adverse drug event (ADE) secondary pneumothorax is associated with numerous drugs, though it is often difficult to determine whether this association is causal in nature, or reflects an epiphenomenon of efficacy or inefficacy, or confounding by indication (CBI). Herein we explore this association in a large health authority drug safety surveillance database. Methods: A quantitative pharmacovigilance (PhV) methodology known as disproportionality analysis was applied to the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) database to explore the quantitative reporting dependencies between drugs and the adverse event pneumothorax as well the corresponding reporting dependencies between drugs and reported indications that may be risk factors for pneumothorax themselves in order to explore the potential contribution of CBI. Results: We found 1. Multiple drugs are associated with pneumothorax; 2. Surfactants and oncology drugs account for most statistically distinctive associations with pneumothorax; 3. Pulmonary surfactants, pentamidine and nitric oxide have the largest statistical reporting associations 4. CBI may play a prominent role in reports of drug-associated pneumothorax. Conclusions: Disproportionality analysis (DA) can provide insights into the spontaneous reporting dependencies between drugs and pneumothorax. CBI assessment based on DA and Cornfield’s inequality presents an additional novel option for the initial exploration of potential safety signals in PhV. HubMed – drug
Gastric body diaphragm-like stricture as a rare complication of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
World J Gastroenterol. 2013 Jun 21; 19(23): 3703-6
Wu LL, Yang YS, Cai FC, Wang SF
Increased risk due to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) therapy has been observed in patients. Although diaphragm-like stricture in the small bowel and colon induced by NSAIDs therapy has been rarely reported, gastric body diaphragm-like stricture has not been reported. We describe the first case of gastric body diaphragm-like stricture due to NSAIDs in a 44-year-old male patient who was successfully treated by an endoscopic approach to avoid complicated surgery. This case highlights new insight into the disadvantages of NSAIDs and provides new data for future clinical studies. HubMed – drug
Creator of “Hold Mayor Dan Sullivan Accountable” on Facebook not even old enough to vote – 16 year old Chris Jenkins created the group on Dec. 1 and two days later it had nearly 250 members.