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Biomedical subjects

B Mehl

Publications and source records attributed to B Mehl.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1989

Medical management of inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease is a serious ailment that afflicts nearly one million people in the U.S. alone. The medical management of this disorder currently includes salicylates, corticosteroids, immunosuppressive therapy, and symptomatic treatment with antidiarrheal agents, although several promising new drugs have been developed. The epidemiology, etiology, pathogenesis, and medical management of the disease are discussed in this article.

Humans↗
PubMed1988

Drug purchasing.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Costs and Cost Analysis↗
PubMed1988

Use of antimicrobial agents in a university teaching hospital. Evolution of a comprehensive control program.

A comprehensive control program for utilization of anti-microbial agents in a large tertiary university teaching hospital regulates both dosage and duration of therapy and requires the prior approval of an infectious disease specialist for utilization of restricted antimicrobial agents. Benefits of the program include more cost-effective antimicrobial therapy and increased physician education in the use of these drugs. Gross savings in pharmacy costs for antibiotics during the first year of the program (1985) amounted to +483,032 for an average monthly savings of +40,252. Gross savings for 1986 were +211,786 with monthly savings of +17,648. The control of the use of one agent may lead to overuse of another agent. Antimicrobial prescribing patterns of physicians are quickly influenced by changing regulations of the program. An ongoing surveillance and review program of in-hospital utilization of antimicrobial agents is necessary to maintain effective and flexible controls.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1988

Improved reporting of adverse drug reactions.

A program using satellite pharmacists to improve adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting in an 1100-bed teaching hospital is described. Because relying on physicians to report ADRs had met with little success (only six reports in seven years), the pharmacy department proposed that pharmacists in satellite pharmacies on patient-care units be called upon to identify and report ADRs. To begin this program, an ADR team composed of a physician, pharmacist, and nurse made weekly rounds of the satellite pharmacies to assist pharmacists in identifying potential ADRs. The FDA definition of an ADR was adopted. Also, inservice education programs about ADR reporting were conducted for pharmacists and nurses. Currently, suspected ADRs are reported to the satellite pharmacist, who forwards a completed drug reaction report form to the assistant director for clinical pharmacy services. Reports are discussed quarterly by the ADR subcommittee of the pharmacy and therapeutics committee; the sub-committee members determine whether any follow-up action is needed. In the first three years after implementation of this program, 306 ADRs were reported; 90% of the reports were filed by pharmacists. An ADR reporting system based on reporting by staff pharmacists has been effective in increasing the number of reported reactions and pharmacist involvement in monitoring patients for ADRs.

Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions↗
PubMed1986

Cost-benefit analysis of an aminoglycoside monitoring service.

The clinical and financial impact of an aminoglycoside monitoring service was determined. All patients admitted to a 74-bed general medicine unit and treated with tobramycin or gentamicin during a six-month study period were eligible for the study. The first three months served as a control period during which pharmacists used published audit criteria and modifications of those criteria to monitor the appropriateness of gentamicin and tobramycin use in patients but did not attempt to intervene in aminoglycoside prescribing. During the next three months, pharmacists provided physicians with recommendations for choice of drug, coordinated blood sampling times, and designed individualized dosage regimens for all patients treated with gentamicin or tobramycin. Data for financial analysis were obtained from pharmacy profiles and medical records, and the cost:benefit ratio for the service was calculated. A total of 118 patients were included in the study. Significant improvements in appropriateness of tobramycin therapy, adequacy of loading dose, frequency of monitoring for ototoxicity, and serum concentration monitoring were noted in the intervention group. Despite an increase in gentamicin use from 20% in the control group to 61% in the intervention group, the incidence of aminoglycoside toxicity did not increase significantly. The cost:benefit ratio was 1.13, which indicates that the service is an appropriate use of resources. The aminoglycoside monitoring service had a favorable impact on the use and cost of aminoglycoside antibiotics. Expansion of the service to all areas of the hospital served by satellite pharmacies could reduce drug expenditures by as much as $55,000 per year.

Aminoglycosides↗
PubMed1986

Effect of procaine on the pH of buffered and unbuffered cardioplegic solutions.

Changes in pH values were studied in two types of cardioplegic admixtures containing procaine 0.95 meq/L: an institutional formulation based on Ringer's injection and buffered with tromethamine injection 3.6%, and Plegisol (Abbott Laboratories) buffered with sodium bicarbonate injection 8.4%. Initial pH was measured in the buffered and unbuffered solutions before the addition of procaine and after the addition of 13 mL of procaine hydrochloride injection 2% or 260 mg of procaine hydrochloride powder (reference standard). Buffered 1-L admixtures containing procaine hydrochloride injection were stored (the institutional formulations in glass and the Plegisol admixtures in flexible plastic bags) at 3-5 degrees C or 25 degrees C. Plegisol admixtures were prepared with 10 mL (10 meq or 840 mg) of buffer as directed by the manufacturer or with 3 mL (3 meq) of buffer. Admixture pH was tested after various time intervals. Of the unbuffered solutions containing procaine, pH values were lower in Plegisol than in the institutional formulation. Of the procaine-containing buffered Plegisol solutions, only the admixture containing 3.0 mL of buffer and procaine prepared from powder had an initial pH in the acceptable range of 7.30-7.60. In all the stored solutions, pH changed rapidly; solution pH changed less under refrigeration. In the stored institutional admixtures, pH was acceptable for 96 hours at 3-5 degrees C and 24 hours at 25 degrees C. In the stored Plegisol admixtures to which 10 mL of buffer was added, pH was greater than 7.6 initially and continued to increase.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bicarbonates↗
PubMed1984

Indicators to control drug costs in hospitals.

A set of monthly indicators that can be used to track hospital drug costs is described; use of the indicators is illustrated using data from one hospital pharmacy department. Weighted for the top 100 drug products' contribution to drug expenditures, the drug-cost inflation index identifies changes in the price of drug products, and the drug-cost index accounts for changes attributed to newly marketed drug products and changes in drug use. Pharmacologic-cost indicators represent the expenditure for drug products in specific pharmacologic classifications per patient day, and disease-drug cost indicators represent the expenditure per day for drugs used to treat patients with specific diseases. Other indicators are the drug cost per patient day, per outpatient clinic visit, and per outpatient prescription. Indicators of intravenous solution cost per patient day, contrast media cost per radiologic procedure, and radiopharmaceuticals cost per procedure are described. Hospital pharmacy directors can use the indicators to develop accurate drug budgets and to monitor changes in drug costs on a routine basis; the indicators also can provide useful information in monitoring drug costs for diagnosis-related groups.

Budgets↗
PubMed1981

Stability of procaine hydrochloride in a buffered cardioplegia formulation.

The stability of procaine hydrochloride in a buffered cardioplegia solution was studied. The formulation of Ringer's injection with added increments of potassium and magnesium plus procaine hydrochloride was buffered to a pH of 7.3-7.6 with tromethamine. Procaine hydrochloride content was measured in triplicate by ultraviolet spectrophotometry at set time intervals and at temperatures of 22, 40, and 61 degrees C. The time required for procaine to degrade to the lower shelf-life limit of 90% of its initial concentration was extrapolated to be approximately two days at room temperature and 11 days under refrigeration. It is recommended that the basic buffered cardioplegia solvent be manufactured separately, and the procaine hydrochloride be added at the time of dispensing to minimize its loss of potency.

Drug Stability↗
PubMed1980

A form of congenital muscular dystrophy.

Five children, between 2 and 10 years old, 3 boys and 2 girls, two of them siblings, showed mild clinical and morphological congenital muscular dystrophy. Neuromuscular signs and symptoms being present from birth or early infancy, aggravated only insignificantly during the course of the disease. Three patients developed right ventricular hypertrophy after the age of 9 years, of whom 2 died of cardiac failure at the age of 11 years. There was probably no cardiomyopathy; pulmonary hypertension of unclear range or slightly elevated. The EMG showed abnormal but non-specific features. A myopathic fiber diameter spectrum, intrafascicular fat cells and mild endomysial fibrosis as well as insufficient fiber typing and type I predominance were prominent in histopathological findings. Ultrastructurally, abnormal myofibers were present in each biopsy although the fine structural pathology was non-specific. The families of the patients came from a genetic isolate in the North-Eastern region of the Federal Republic of Germany. The first 4 patients were genetically related to each other by several links among their families dated back over the last 3 centuries. The fifth patient came from the same area, but unequivocal familial linkage could not be established. An autosomal recessive mode of inheritance is suggested for this congenital muscular dystrophy.

Child↗