Testosterone supplementation is a booming business. Direct-to-consumer marketing is expanding, touting the many benefits of testosterone supplements for aging men. If you’re male, over the age of 40, and have experienced tiredness, decreased muscle mass, lower Continue reading
Category Archives: Formulary & Pharmacy Issues
Urine drug screening
Urine drug screens (UDS) are a valuable tool in our management of patients on chronic opioid therapy. However, the results can be misleading and clinical judgment is needed in interpreting results. Continue reading
Does ADHD in adults start in childhood?
I will open this post with the bottom line. No one has the definitive answer to this question. Yet. But interesting information can be found in a study published last month in The American Journal of Psychiatry. This study suggests that ADHD in adults does Continue reading
Are you scratching your head about what to do about lice?
You are all familiar with a scourge that has plagued mankind for centuries without relief in sight. It has attacked humans of all ages but predominantly targets children. It is currently the source of many missed school days as well as parental and school Continue reading
Azithromycin: spawn of Satan or just evil incarnate?
All prescribers are certainly aware of (and hopefully accept the reality of) increasing antibiotic resistance. While guidelines continue to be released encouraging less antibiotic use for sinusitis, bronchitis, and otitis media, there also continues to be use or, more Continue reading
Methadone – a complex tool for pain management
Methadone is a valuable tool for patients with chronic benign pain, but it is a medication with a complex pharmacology and potential dangers in prescribing. It is often used for patients who require a long acting pain medication when they have failed or have side Continue reading
Oh, my aching back
A few months ago, I had to undergo an L5-S1 spinal fusion. Before surgery I had a number of epidural injections to try to avoid the surgery and several studies to clearly identify the offending nerve root level. Like most patients, I said “yes” to my doctors’ suggestions Continue reading
Beware the drug sample trap
Drug samples are insidious. They may seem benign. They are just small quantities of a medication, dropped off in medical offices by drug company representatives, to be handed out to patients who may benefit from them. What could be more harmless than that?
Well, let’s start by defining the term “Trojan horse.” Continue reading
Dueling opinions on vitamin D
“Curiouser and curiouser,” cried Alice in her journey through Wonderland. And so might we primary care clinicians, soldiering forward to stamp out disease and promote good health in a sometimes confusing world. Our mission is made more challenging when Continue reading
More evidence to support delaying antibiotics in URIs
As all practicing clinicians know, patients often expect antibiotics when they come in with typical URI, sinusitis, otitis, or bronchitis symptoms. Clinicians understandably feel caught between a rock and a hard place. To accede to the antibiotic expectation helps patient Continue reading