By: Katharine Cimmino, Editor-in-Chief – Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most common pediatric psychiatric disorder, and it affects the education, social interactions, and over-all wellbeing of both children and adolescents.1 Symptoms of ADHD can persist into adulthood, and those with this disorder are more likely to suffer from other mental health co-morbidities.2 According to guidelines…

By: Benedette Cuffari, BS Toxicology Candidate c/o 2015 – Hemophilia B is an inherited bleeding disorder that is caused by a substantially reduced or complete lack of blood clotting factor IX. Therefore, people suffering from hemophilia B experience bleeding episodes that cause pain, irreversible joint damage, and life threatening hemorrhages. Approximately 28,000 people are currently…

By: Nancy Simon, PharmD c/o 2016 – Last November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) submitted a proposal for a Generic Drug Labeling Plan.  This new plan will allow generic drug companies to use the same process as the one used by brand drug companies to update their medication labels to reflect new safety information.1…

By: Jacqueline Meaney, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015, University at Buffalo: School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences — Psychotropic medications are typically used in conjunction with cognitive behavioral therapy to treat behavioral problems that affect children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Symptoms of ASD typically include a need for routines (change intolerance), difficulty with verbal and…

By: Andrew Leong, Staff Writer — This year, the FDA approved three new antibiotics to treat acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) caused by Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA. They are dalbavancin (DalvanceTM), tedizolid phosphate (SivextroTM), and oritavancin (OrbactivTM). Dalbavancin was approved on May 23, 2014 and is administered intravenously in two doses (1000…

By: Kevin Lin, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 — The FDA recently completed an observational cohort study that compared Pradaxa® (dabigatran) to warfarin for rates of ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, major gastrointestinal bleed, myocardial infarction, and death. The study enrolled more than 134,000 patients, with 64% over the age of 65 and found a lower risk…

By: Elissa Tam, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 – Patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes who cannot control their glucose levels simply by taking oral medications have to inject insulin daily. They also have to measure their glucose levels by using strips and lancets on a regular basis. For patients, especially elderly ones, the…

By: Azia Tariq, Staff Editor – With the sale of counterfeit drugs reaching an alarmingly higher rate than ever, The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in collaboration with the Skoll Global Threats Fund, the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the multi-agency…

By: Melissa Roy Co-Copy Editor [Graphics focused] – Our dedicated preceptor Kimberly Defronzo, RPh, MS, MBA is currently a Consumer Safety Officer at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She attended the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy for her Bachelors of Pharmacy. She then went to St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health…

By: Valentina DiGangi,PharmD Candidate c/o 2017, Brandon Hu, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018, Sang Hyo Kim, Staff Editor, Samantha Lau, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018, and Seowoo Yoon, PharmD Candidate c/o 2018 – What does a clinician do when there is limited access to a particular drug, such as morphine? Should they treat a patient who is…

By: Davidta Brown, Senior Staff Editor – A new therapeutic device has seemingly leapt from the pages of a science fiction novel and into the hands of migraine sufferers around the world. Worn over the forehead and sending electromagnetic stimulation directly into the supraorbital trigeminal nerves, the cranial nerve stimulator offered by Belgian biotechnology company…

By: Melissa Roy, Co-Copy Editor [Graphics Focused] – DIA stands for Drug Information Association. It is an organization that strives to provide both educational and professional development opportunities for individuals working in pharmaceutical and medical product development-related fields, as well as a global, unbiased forum for the exchange of information across multiple disciplines of programming…

By: Kevin Lin, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 – This April, the FDA approved three sublingual immunotherapies for pollen induced allergic rhinitis: Grastek® (Timothy Grass Pollen Allergen Extract), Oralair® (Grass Pollen Allergen Extract), and Ragwitek® (Short Ragweed Pollen Allergen Extract). Formulated by Merck, Grastek® is Timothy grass pollen allergen extract. It is approved for patients ages…

By: Sherin Pathickal, PharmD Candidate c/o 2016 – The mandatory receipt of vaccinations as a preventive public health measure has long been a controversial issue in our society.1 Despite the popular use of immunizations, many reservations about vaccine constituents and their safety have prevailed, leading to increasing numbers of unvaccinated people.1 Opponents of vaccinations have…

By: Ada Seldin, Staff Editor – The overuse of antipsychotics in the nursing home population for off-label indications continues to impact patient safety. In 2005, the FDA issued a black box warning that stated, “The treatment of behavioral disorders in elderly patients with dementia with atypical antipsychotic medications is associated with increased mortality.” The evidence…

By: Ada Seldin, Staff Editor – Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) is indicated for the treatment of intractable spasticity caused by spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, spinal ischemia or tumor, transverse myelitis, cervical spondylosis, cerebral palsy, and degenerative myelopathy.1 Baclofen inhibits both monosynaptic and polysynaptic reflexes at the spinal cord level by decreasing excitatory neurotransmitter release from…

By: Jenny Park PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 – Testosterone is a hormone essential to male development. However, treatment of testosterone deficiency is FDA approved only when accompanied with another medical condition such as failure of testicles to produce testosterone due to chemotherapy or even genetic conditions.1 In 2011, 5.3 million prescriptions for testosterone were written…

By: Diana Gritsenko, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 – Drug overdose is a serious problem in the United States.  In 2010, drug overdose caused more deaths among adults within the ages of 25 and 64 years than motor vehicle accidents. The Center for Disease Control (CDC), ran an analysis that showed drug overdose death rates have…

By: Erica Dimitropoulos Co-Copy Editor [Content- Focused]  – On February 14, 2014, elosulfase alfa (Vimizim™) became an FDA-approved enzyme replacement therapy for Morquio A Syndrome, a type of mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS IVA).1 Elosulfase alfa was granted priority review and was also the first drug to receive the Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher that motivates the development…

By: Hayeon Na, Co-Copy Editor (Content Focused) – On February 26th, 2014, pharmacists, clinical faculty, and pharmacy students from St. John’s University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences gathered at the Freeport Memorial Library for a “Brown Bag,” one of the yearly calendar events at the public library. This event was conducted through the joint…

By: Daniel Mathan, PharmD Candidate c/o 2016, Anita Kachappilly, PharmD Candidate c/o 2016, & Amrita Singh, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 – Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a debilitating autoimmune disease that affects multiple organs in the body and can potentially become life threatening.1 The incidence of SLE is about 50 cases for every 100,000 people; it…

By: Hayeon Na, Co-Copy Editor [Content-Focused] – On October 8th of 2013, Bayer’s new drug riociguat (Adempas®) was approved for the treatment of patients whose pulmonary hypertension (PH) belongs in WHO groups 1 and 4.1 Riociguat (Adempas®) is a soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator, and currently the only one of its kind on the market.…

By: Ada Seldin, Staff Editor – Since the first release of the Surgeon General’s Report on smoking 50 years ago, it has become clear that smoking results in premature death and a myriad of diseases, affecting almost every organ system. Public health initiatives to increase awareness, prevent initiation, and promote smoking cessation have been marginally…

By: Beatrisa Popovitz, Senior Staff Editor – On January 31st 2014, the FDA announced the release of a revolutionary new drug, tasimelteon (Hetlioz®). Tasimeleton is the first developed treatment of non-24-hour sleep-wake cycle syndrome in blind individuals.1 Formulated by Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., this melatonin receptor agonist works by binding to and activating the MT1 and…

By: Davidta Brown, Senior Staff Editor – As the world of healthcare and its provision evolves, laws which organize and oversee the ways that patients receive health services must develop at the same pace. Last November, a new bill establishing clearer protocol for the compounding and tracking of medications became national law. The Drug Quality…

By: Davidta Brown, Senior Staff Editor – In 21st century medicine, pharmaceuticals have come to include compounds derived through novel and complex methods. Some of the most recent innovations have been in the form of biologics, therapeutic compounds produced through biological processes.1 Biologics are derived from living cell lines which may be bacterial, yeast, animal,…

By: Fatema Elias, Staff Writer – With the New Year and everyone committing to their New Year resolutions, more and more patients are coming into the pharmacy asking for recommendations, particularly for weight loss dietary supplements. I hesitate to recommend an over-the-counter dietary supplement for weight loss. However, we as pharmacists and pharmacy students have…

By: Davidta Brown, Senior Staff Editor – As the world’s largest market for pharmaceuticals, the United States receives many medications manufactured abroad.1 Patients, physicians, and pharmacists defer the responsibility of ensuring the quality of these imported drugs to the FDA, but it only takes one report of deceit in the pharmaceutical industry for this trust…

By: Tamara Yunusova, Senior Staff Editor – Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) are acid-reducing agents that have multiple uses in the treatment and prophylaxis of conditions such as peptic ulcer diseases, H. Pylori infection, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, GERD, and NSAID gastroduodenal ulcers. Their versatility in treating a wide range of conditions, unparalleled efficacy over their Histamine-2-receptor antagonist…

By: Katharine Cimmino, Editor-in-Chief and Melissa Roy, Co-Copy Editor [Graphics-Focused] – Dr. Mangione has been a prominent member here at St. John’s University both as a student and as a leader. Before becoming our dedicated Provost, Dr. Mangione was the Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences since 1999. He joined the St.…

By: Aleena Cherian, Co-Copy Editor [Graphics-Focused] and Jenny Prakash, PharmD Candidate c/o 2014 – Starting your rotations in 5th year usually brings mixed emotions. On one hand, it’s a relief to finally be finished with labs and D&Ds…imagine, a whole year without any exams! But on the other hand, now you have to test how…

By: Jenny Park, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 – On July 12, 2013, the FDA approved afatinib (GilotrifTM) as a new first-line treatment for patients with late-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a type of carcinoma where specific types of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations are expressed.1 The drug afatinib irreversibly blocks EGFR, also…

By: Ada Seldin, Staff Editor – On November 22, 2013, simeprevir (Olysio®), a new agent to treat chronic hepatitis C, received approval under the FDA’s priority review program. Simeprevir is an NS3/4A protease inhibitor that blocks the replication of the hepatitis C virus. Two other drugs from the same class, boceprevir and telaprevir, which were…

By: Katharine Cimmino, Editor-in-Chief – Marijuana, also known as “grass,” “pot,” “joint,” “weed,” “reefer,” “hashish,” and “Mary Jane,” is a very popular illicit drug.1 According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, “In 2012, 5.4 million persons aged 12 or older used marijuana on a daily or almost daily basis in the past 12…

By: Rebecca Gilene, PharmD Candidate c/o 2014, St. Louis College of Pharmacy – The FDA approved macitentan (Opsumit®) on October 18, 2013 for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.1 Pulmonary arterial hypertension, often referred to as PAH, is a disease characterized by high blood pressure in the arteries between the heart and lungs. An increase…

By: Sang Hyo Kim, Staff Editor – Near the end of December, the pharmaceutical company, MannKind Corp, will submit their clinical data to the U.S Food and Drug Administration for the approval of an inhaled dosage form of insulin, Afrezza®.1 Administered with the Dreamboat inhaler, this inhaled dosage form delivers insulin packaged into single dose…

By: Sherine Jaison, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 –  The leukemia chemotherapy drug ponatinib (Iclusig) has just been taken off the market. The drug was under investigation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following several reports of serious and life threatening blood clots and narrowing of the blood vessels.1 Ponatinib is a BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase…

By: Hamid Razaki, PharmD – Drug shortages seen across pharmacies in the United States continue to be an issue in patient care. A drug product shortage is defined as a supply issue that affects how the pharmacy prepares or dispenses a drug product, or that influences patient care when prescribers must use an alternative agent.1…

By: Ramya Mathew, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 – Vertex Pharmaceuticals, an American biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been researching a new “nuke” for the treatment of Hepatitis C called VX-135. This nucleotide polymerase inhibitor is currently undergoing clinical trials, but the FDA has put the research on a partial hold due to findings…

By: Arya Mathew, PharmD Candidate c/o 2014 –  About twelve percent of the U.S. population suffers from migraines, affecting adult women three times more than adult men.  Migraines are returning attacks of moderate to severe, throbbing or pulsing pain, usually on one side of the head.  Along with the severe pain, migraine sufferers also experience…

By: Nathan Trustman, PharmD Candidate c/o 2014, AMSCOP at LIU – The antibiotic class known as the fluoroquinolones is widely used in both outpatient and inpatient settings. They provide bactericidal effects by inhibiting DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV enzymes in bacteria. The systemic agents that are most commonly used in clinical practice include ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin,…

By: Davidta Brown, Staff Editor – For the estimated 7.5 million individuals in the United States living with iron deficiency anemia (IDA), there is now a new alternative to iron supplements or time-consuming, repetitive infusions. On July 25, 2013, the FDA approved ferric carboxymaltose injection (Injectafer®) for the treatment of IDA, especially in patients who…

By: Ada Seldin, Staff Editor – On August 12,2013, a new weapon against HIV-1 infection was added to the existing armada. Dolutegravir, the third integrase strand transfer inhibitor to attain FDA approval, targets a protein essential to HIV replication. HIV-1 is the predominant type of HIV virus, the other being HIV-2, which is endogenous to…

By: Tamara Yunusova, Senior Staff Editor – After a lengthy fifteen-year hiatus in recombinant drug approvals, FDA-approved Recombinant Coagulation Factor IX (Rixubis) has mounted to the forefront of Hemophilia B drug therapy. The recombinant coagulation factor gained orphan drug approval on June 26, 2013 for routine prophylaxis, control of bleeding episodes, and perioperative management in…

By: Hayeon Na, Co-Copy Editor [Content-Focused] – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on July 26th that oral dosage forms of ketoconazole (Nizoral®) should no longer be prescribed as first-line therapy for any fungal infections.1 The label and indication for oral ketoconazole were updated, and a new medication guide was added. Other dosage forms…

By: Sang Hyo Kim, Staff Editor – On March 29th 2013, the U.S Food and Drug Administration approved canagliflozin (Invokana®), a new form of a diabetic drug for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.1 Canagliflozin is in a new class of medications called sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and is the only oral, once-daily…

By: Andy Zhang, PharmD Candidate c/o 2015 – On August 1st, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a new warning of serious acetaminophen associated skin reactions, including Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS), toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP).1 Acetaminophen is one of the most widely used over-the-counter (OTC) medication, and…

By: David Ong, PharmD Candidate c/o 2014 – Manipulating the renin-angiotensin system is one of the many ways drugs are used to treat hypertension. By blocking key steps in the renin-angiotensin cascade, blood pressure decrease may be achieved. Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) represent one of the drug classes that utilize the aforementioned mechanism. ARBs…

By: Sang Hyo Kim, Staff Editor – On June 27, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AIDS.gov, and other national and local entities organized the 19th annual National HIV Testing Day. On this day, the theme of “Take the Test, Take Control” was employed to spread awareness of testing and prevention methods…

By Davidta Brown, Staff Editor – For post-operative pain treatment, few drugs are as trustworthy, as tried-and-true, as codeine. Prescriptive confidence in the analgesic has promoted its use in children recovering from uncomplicated surgeries, but the spate of injuries and deaths of young children who had been given codeine after undergoing adenotonsillectomies has provoked a…