by Eric Christianson | Jun 4, 2017 | Long Term Care Consultant Pharmacist Education and Information
I’ve spent years of my life working in and around long term care (nursing homes). The CMS F-tag, F-329 Unnecessary Medications tag is by far (in combination with F-428) the most common survey deficiency that a consultant pharmacist can help a facility avoid. The...
by Eric Christianson | May 31, 2017 | Drug Interaction Case Studies and Education For Pharmacists, Educational Case Studies For Pharmacists, Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Case Studies
So, what would you say if a patient asked you, “Should I take St. John’s Wort?” My gut screams no! St. John’s Wort is a substantial inducer of many CYP enzymes which can play havoc with many different drugs and their respective levels....
by Eric Christianson | May 28, 2017 | Medication and Disease State Clinical Pearls For Pharmacists, Psychiatry and Addiction Medication and Disease State Clinical Pearls
I came across this useful table of benzodiazepine equivalents and decided to share it with you. Converting one drug to another always comes with challenges and benzodiazepines are no different. It’s not always easy to know exactly what to do or how to convert...
by Eric Christianson | May 17, 2017 | Polypharmacy Cases And The Prescribing Cascade
There are many medications that cause insomnia. With any new symptoms, we must first rule out the possibility of medication adverse effects. Here’s 3 classic examples of the prescribing cascade due to drug induced insomnia. Corticosteroids. They are used for...
by Eric Christianson | May 14, 2017 | Cardiovascular Medication and Disease State Clinical Pearls, Medication and Disease State Clinical Pearls For Pharmacists
Drug interactions is one thing that pharmacists need to be experts at managing. Gemfibrozil and statins present an interesting drug interaction that needs to be addressed. How should we address the interaction? Do other alternatives exist? Other alternatives to the...