ACP Hospitalist Weekly | Archives | January 25, 2012

In the News

Hyperglycemia guideline suggests glucose testing for all inpatients

A new clinical practice guideline from the Endocrine Society offers recommendations on identifying and managing hyperglycemia in non-critical-care inpatients.

Optimal potassium level after MI differs from guidelines, study finds

Post-myocardial infarction inpatients with blood potassium levels between 3.5 and 4.5 mEq/L had a lower mortality risk than those with levels higher or lower than this range, a new study found.

High-value care

College workgroup compiles list of unnecessary tests

A workgroup of internists convened by ACP has developed a list of 37 clinical situations in which medical tests are commonly used but do not provide high value.

Depression

Antidepressants work for patients with comorbidities

Patients with comorbidities can be safely and effectively treated for major depressive disorder (MDD) with antidepressants, even combination therapy, with no more adverse effects than their healthier counterparts, researchers concluded.

Perioperative care

Cangrelor shows promise as bridging antiplatelet therapy in CABG patients

Among patients who discontinued thienopyridine therapy before cardiac surgery, those who used the investigational drug cangrelor had better maintenance of platelet inhibition than those who used placebo, a study found.

FDA update

Brentuximab gets boxed warning

A boxed warning has been added to lymphoma drug brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) regarding its rare association with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

Possibility of mixed drugs from Endo Pharmaceuticals

The FDA recently warned physicians and the public about the possibility of packaging mixups of some prescription opiate medications and over-the-counter non-opiate products manufactured and packaged for Endo Pharmaceuticals by Novartis Consumer Health.

From the College