Presenter: Peter Hillmen, MD, Consulting Hematologist, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, United Kingdom “Eculizumab is the first treatment that targets intravascular hemolysis, the primary clinical manifestation of PNH (paroxysmal nocturnal hemolysis),” stated Dr. Hillmen. Eculizumab (Soliris, Alexion) is a monoclonal antibody with activity against complement protein C5, a protein that blocks terminal complement activation on red [...]

Presenter: Peter Hillmen, MD, Consulting Hematologist, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, United Kingdom In another trial reported by Dr. Hillmen, both response rates and overall survival rates were superior in patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) who received alemtuzumab (Campath, Berlex) instead of the standard treatment, chlorambucil tablet (Leukeran medication, GlaxoSmithKline).

Dexamethasone and Lenalidomide (Revlimid) Effects in Multiple Myeloma Presenter: S. Vincent Rajkumar, MD, Professor of Medicine, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota In patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) who received combination induction therapy with lenalido-mide (Revlimid, Celgene) and dexamethasone, a lower dose of generic dexamethasone was found to reduce the risk of [...]

I’ve spent a lot of time addressing the accuracy of the initial medication list in the context of what patients (or their family or friends) remember. I certainly cannot argue about the importance of ensuring that medication orders, written anew for each setting of the hospital, are scrupulously checked to verify that a medication has [...]

Few would dispute the fact that many patients do not fill their prescriptions and many do not take medications as prescribed. Indeed, I have always suspected that most patients, when asked about their current medications, remember the drugs they actually take, or at least what problem those drugs are intended to treat, but generally do [...]

I hate to be a spoiler, especially amidst all the deafening applause, but I must ask: Just how reasonable is it to expect that most, or even many, patients (or their friends and family) will produce an updated and accurate medication form (much less schlep it around with them)?

One didn’t have to watch this year’s presidential address to know that this motherhood-and-apple-pie line probably drew enthusiastic applause from both sides of the aisle. Who doesn’t want to reduce costs and medical errors? Who doesn’t want better information technology? Who wouldn’t ardently support a nonbinding resolution to improve the quality of health care, casting [...]