Medication compliance is a hot topic these days, both in Washington and beyond the Beltway. For example, one of the concerns PBMs have had about a medical data privacy law is that they might not be able to get the kind of patient information they need—from pharmacies or physicians—to run the kind of compliance programs [...]

Most of our readers are working hard in hospitals, managed care organizations, and other settings to reduce the epidemic of medical errors, especially those relating to the delivery of prescription medication. Indeed, volumes have now been written about medical error reduc-tion, and major national organizations are spreading the error-reduction gospel everyday. Progress appears to be [...]

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (PRISM-2) of interferon | -1a in patients with RRMS, 560 participants were randomly assigned to receive subcutaneous interferon | -1a 22 mcg (n = 189), 44 mcg (n = 184), or placebo (n = 187) three times a week for two years. The mean number of relapses during the [...]

Interferons are naturally occurring proteins that demonstrate immuno-modulatory, antiviral, and antiprolifera-tive biological activities. They exert their biological effects by binding to specific receptors on the surface of cells. The binding of interferon beta to its receptors initiates a complex cascade of intra-cellular events that leads to the expression of numerous interferon-induced gene products and markers, [...]

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive, debilitating illness that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It is presumed to be an autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that results in acute focal inflammatory demyelination and axonal loss with limited remyelination, culminating in chronic multifocal sclerotic plaques. This leads to [...]

Selecting the best strategy for remedying medication errors is not easy. Even when system-based causes have been identified, often the most effective action is not obvious and the best error-prevention tools to use in each situation are not clear. In this article, examples of these tools are listed in order of their effectiveness for creating [...]

Peginterferon alfa-2a is contra-indicated in the following groups:

patients with hypersensitivity to any of the components of the product, those with autoimmune hepatitis, and those with decompensated hepatic disease before or during treatment with this drug
neonates and infants because of the ingredient benzyl alcohol, which has been reported to be associated with an increased incidence of [...]