Pharmacy Week in Review: OCD Treatment Approved, Higher Cancer Survival Seen in Privately Insured Patients

A look at last week's top stories in the world of pharmacy.

Nicole Grassano, Host:

Hello and welcome to the Pharmacy Times

News Network. I’m Nicole Grassano your host for our Pharmacy Week in Review.

Although more than 1 in 10 people in the United States wear contact lenses to correct their vision,

40% to 90% of patients are not adhering to proper contact lens hygiene practices, Pharmacy Times

reported.

Contact lenses are an effective and safe way to correct vision problems, but such high rates of misuse lead to increased risk for infection, and poor eye health, according to a statement released by the American Optometric Association.

The association is partnering with the CDC during the fifth annual Contact Lens Health Week this week to inform patients about hygienic practices and risks. The CDC notes that some unhealthy care techniques that may negatively affect eye health involve sleeping with lenses in, swimming with lenses in, and using lenses or storage cases for too long without replacing them.

FDA officials have granted marketing approval for Brainsway’s Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) System to treat obsessive compulsive disorder, Contemporary Clinic

eported. TMS is a procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain.

The FDA permitted marketing of TMS as a treatment for major depression

in 2008, and the agency expanded the use to include TMS for treating pain associated with certain migraine headaches in 2013. The FDA reviewed the Brainsway device through the de novo premarket review pathway, a regulatory pathway for some low- to moderate-risk devices that are novel and for which there is no legally marketed predicate device to which the device can claim substantial equivalence.

Privately insured patients with follicular lymphoma have nearly 2-fold better survival outcomes than publicly insured or non-insured patients, according to the results of a new study, Specialty Pharmacy Times

reported. The findings suggest that improving access to care through insurance could potentially improve outcomes in this patient population.

The study, published in Blood,

sought to examine the association between insurance status and overall survival in patients with the disease. Prior research has pointed to a link between low socioeconomic status and poor outcomes, likely the results of decreased access to care among these patients. For this study, researchers looked deeper into the impact of insurance status on follicular lymphoma survival, which had not been previously studied.

Pharmacists may get more questions about Allegra 24-Hour Allergy if their patients have seen a new commercial for the OTC product. In the spot, called “The Moment: Birthday,” indoor and outdoor allergies are keeping a mother from enjoying her daughter’s birthday party. Luckily, she is able to beat her tough symptoms fast and get back to enjoying the moment with non-drowsy Allegra 24-Hour Allergy. According to the commercial, Allegra 24-Hour Allergy starts to work within an hour of taking it.

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Thanks for watching our Pharmacy Week in Review. I’m Nicole Grassano at the Pharmacy Times

News Network.