Genelex named top-10 fastest-growing business in Seattle

A national business magazine has named Genelex the 10th fastest-growing private company in Seattle. In the fifth such listing for Genelex this year, Inc. magazine has included the Seattle-based company at the number 10 spot in its list of the top-10 fastest-growing private companies in Seattle. Genelex is the only healthcare software and genetic testing company included on the list. … Read More

DEA reschedules hydrocodone medications

The federal government has placed new restrictions on the prescribing of medications containing the opioid hydrocodone. Effective Oct. 6, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has published a final rule reclassifying hydrocodone combination products (HCPs), defined as medications combining hydrocodone and another drug, from Schedule III to the more restrictive Schedule II. The proposed rule follows the recommendation of a … Read More

Meaningful Use requirements linked to fewer adverse drug events

The use of health information technology enhancements, such as clinical decision support tools, can help reduce adverse drug events (ADEs) in hospitals by between 27.3 and 69.2 percent, according to a recently released study of Florida hospitals. The research scrutinizes what impact Meaningful Use (MU) requirements for implementing electronic health records (EHR) systems had on patient care, and the results … Read More

Study: Elderly patients at greater risk of kidney injury if on antipsychotic drugs

New research into the risks of three common antipsychotic drugs for the elderly suggests older patients are 73 percent more likely to experience acute kidney injury (AKI) while on any of the three medications. The research, published in the August 19 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, examined the medical records of nearly 100,000 adults 65 and older who … Read More

Case Report: Misdiagnosis of Adverse Effect Leads to Prescribing Cascade

A 70-year-old man fell, resulting in subdural hemorrhage and frontal lobe contusions (bleeding in his brain). He was admitted to the ICU, where lab results showed two interesting facts: he had unusually high levels of salicylate in his blood and X-ray imaging showed opaque material in his colon. He was self-administering donepezil, calcium carbonate, alendronate, pravastatin, ezetimibe, omeprazole and perindopril. … Read More