Prescription, Nonprescription and Herbal Medicines
Prescription, Non-prescription and Herbal Medications: Exploring Interactions in the Geriatric Population

Geriatric medicine, generally referred to as just "geriatrics" is a branch of internal medicine and health care that focuses primarily on the diagnoses, prevention, care and treatment of disease and disability in elderly patients. Elderly patients involve those senior members of the population that develop a disability, or are suffering from a disease that is a resultant of old age or is a prompt symptom of old age. Geriatrics commonly involves treatment of these old age symptoms and disabilities such as deteriorated memory, immobility, impaired vision and hearing etc. Geriatrics, in modern times, is quite advanced. Specialized services such as psycho-geriatrics, where expert psychologists focus on treating old age related depression, memory loss and other psychological conditions that occur in the elderly population, along with development of physical therapy centers whose prime focus is the rehabilitation…...

mla

Bibliography

Administration on Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2004). A Profile of Older Americans: 2004. Pg. 3,.

Alavijeh, M.S., Chishty, M., Qaisar, Z.M., & Palmer, A.M. (2005 October). Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, the Blood Brain Barrier, and Central Nervous System Drug Discovery. NeuroRx, 2(40.

Aschenbrenner, D.S., & Venable, S.J. (2009). Drug Therapy in Nursing. Wolters Kluwer- Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

George, J., Byth, K., & Farrell, G. (1990). Age But Not Gender Selectively Affects Expression of Individual Cytochrome P450 Proteins in Human Liver. Pub Med- Biochem Pharmacol, 48:365-374.

Prescription Drug Comparison
The rate at which Americans consume prescription or over-the-counter pharmaceuticals has increased significantly during the last two decades, and today "the number of prescriptions filled each year increased by 39% between 1999 and 2009 & #8230; while the average American fills 12 prescriptions each year" (ice, 2012). I have selected a total of five medications commonly found throughout the typical home, and recorded the route of transmission for each substance. In addition, the various side effects experienced after taking each of these drugs are described in detail.

Ibuprofen

oute of Transmission: When presented with headache symptoms or other localized pain issues, two disintegrating tablets each containing 200mg of ibuprofen, are ingested orally along with water. While ibuprofen is available in a number of brand names, including Advil and Motrin, I happen to take a generic version of the drug for the sake of practicality.

Side Effects: During periods of extreme stress…...

mla

References

MIMS Online Database. (2011). Ibuprofen. Available:   Last accessed 30th Nov 2012.http://www.mims.com/USA/drug/info/ibuprofen/ .

MIMS Online Database. (2011). Lansoprazole. Available:   syndrome/lansoprazole/. Last accessed 30th Nov 2012.http://www.mims.co.uk/Drugs/gastrointestinal-tract/peptic-ulcer-z-e -

Rice, S. (2011, May 31). Are you taking too many meds?. CNN Health. Retrieved from  http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/05/31/med.nation.too.many.meds/index.html 

Tiziani, A. (2010) Harvard's Nursing Guide to Drugs. 8th ed. Sydney, Australia: Elsevier- Mosby

Prescription, OTC and Herbal emedies in Canada
More and more consumers are becomes wise to the ways of medicine, and seeking methods of self-medicating and treating acute or chronic ailments with as little hassle as possible. There are several therapies available to patients suffering from physical ailments, including prescription drugs, OTC and herbal medications. Each of these medications is treated differently by the Canadian government, and regulated in a slightly different manner.

Though all of these medications may potentially be taken safely, they can also cause a variety of symptoms and side effects if taken incorrectly. Thus it is critical that consumers educate themselves to as great an extent as possible to ensure that the medicine options they take are safe given their personal medical history. An overview of each of these different therapies is provided below, as well as legislation governing their disbursement and use.

Prescription, OTC and Herbal Medication: An Overview

There…...

mla

References:

HC. (2004). "The regulation of prescription drugs: roles and responsibilities." Health

Canada. May 2004. Retrieved 7, December 2004:  http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/media/releases/2004/internet_pharmacybk1.htm 

Longtin, D. & Miller, H.I. (2000). "Death by dietary supplement." Policy Review: 15

Ruedy J, Kaufman DM, MacLeod H. (1999). Alternative and complementary medicine in Canada: A survey. Can Med Assn J; 160:816-818

In a study by Shah, Aslam and Avery (2001) of approximately 38,000 prescriptions by 23 doctors, there were a number of errors including: 715 or 25% no directions; 510 or 18% prescribed item not mentioned (usually on repeat prescription); 321 or 11%, directions incomplete, illegible or written "as directed"; 306 or 11%, more than one month's supply given on separate repeat prescriptions without patients request; 260 or 9%, strength missing where a product existed in various strengths, and no guidance available in the BNF; 8% or 229, the prescribed quantity was not clearly written, missing or too large; and 5% or 132, prescriber's signature missing. Another 100 errors were due to prescribing medicines no longer available, incorrect medicine because handwriting, no date or wrong strength.
Given that this is the digital age, it seems that prescriptions can be easily "written" by computer or some form of electronics, and indeed that…...

mla

References

Preece, J.F,. Ashford, J.R and Hunt, R.G. Writing all prescriptions by computer (1984). The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners. 34: 654-657

Romano, M. (2002) Patient-safety awards abound, but do they represent real progress in the fight against medical errors, or are they just for show? Modern Healthcare

 http://www.modernhealthcare.com/ 

Rovner, J. (2007) Congress Looks to Require Electronic Prescriptions. NPR

Prescription Drug Use Research
Pradel, V., Delga, C., Rouby, F., Micallef, J. nd Lapeyre-Mestre, M. (2010). ssessment of buse Potential of Benzodiazepines from a Prescription Database Using 'Doctor Shopping' as an Indicator. CNS Drugs, 24(7), 611-620.

This study involved assessing the potential for abuse of several benzodiazepines using so called doctor shopping and to recommend that a "doctor shopping indicator" statistic can be useful in reducing prevalence of prescription drug over-use.

McCabe, S.E., West, B.T., Morales, M., Cranford, J.., Boyd, C.J. (2008). Does early onset of non-medical use of prescription drugs predict subsequent prescription drug abuse and dependence? Results from a national study. ddiction, 102, pgs. 1920 -- 1930 doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.02015.x

This study examined the associations between early onset of non-medical use of prescription drugs and the development of prescription drug abuse and dependence in the United States. Research participants comprised a nationally representative cross-sectional sample of civilian non-institutionalized adults aged 18 years or…...

mla

Article 10:

Higgins, G.E., Mahoney, M., Ricketts, M.L. (2009). Non-Social Reinforcement of the Non-Medical Use of Prescription Drugs: A partial test of social learning and self-control theories. Journal of Drug Issues. 949-964.

Researchers examined the explanation of the nonmedical use of prescription drugs to test the comparative utility of two theories of drug use (i.e., social learning theory and self-control theory) on the nonmedical use of prescription drug use. Using data from the 2006 Monitoring the Future Survey, they found that both theories have a link with the nonmedical use of prescription drugs. A consistent theme was that social learning theory had a consistent link with the nonmedical use of prescription drugs. However, self-control and nonsocial reinforcement have inconsistent links with the nonmedical use of prescription drugs.

Health care [...] prescription compliance among the homeless. Health care for the homeless is perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the healthcare professional. The homeless in America face many problems, and healthcare is only one of them. It is difficult for most homeless people to fill and use prescription drugs for health problems for a number of reasons, from cost to the ability to self-administer drugs they may not understand or want. The problems of homeless noncompliance with prescription medications must be addressed to avoid a crisis in homeless health care.
Most homeless people do not have health care coverage, and so even basic prescription medications for health problems may be out of their reach. If they do attempt to receive health care at all it is usually through a county facility such as a clinic or a free clinic. If their conditions require prescription drugs, often they cannot…...

mla

References

Boucher, L.A. (1995). Medication: Overview and issues. In Old and homeless -- Double-jeopardy: An overview of current practice and policies, Rich, D.W. & Mullins, L.C. (Eds.) (pp. 53-63). Westport, CT: Auburn House.

Clarke, P.N., Williams, C.A., & Percy, M.A. (1995). Health and life problems of homeless men and women in the southeast. Journal of community health nursing, 12(2), 101-110.

Editors. (2004). Health care for the homeless. Retrieved from the American Medical Student Association web site:   27 Dec. 2004.http://www.amsa.org/programs/gpit/homeless.cfm 

Sociology
The United Nations predicts that by 2050, the world's population will exceed 9 billion people. Discuss the consequences of population growth on the world's resources (include environmental and health factors such as food, water, air, access to medicine). Why is the world's population growing so fast? And how is technology contributing to this rapid growth?

There are several major reasons for population growth being what it is. As described by an article on the Yale University website, there are three main ones. Those would be tackling of infectious disease in many countries, improvement in public health overall and improved production and distribution of food. When it comes to food production, just one example of how well food production is done now would be that grain has increased in volume from 631 million tons to about 1.65 billion tones just from 1950 to 1984 alone. This is a factor of 2.6 times.…...

mla

References

Carroll, J. (2015). BIO boots Martin Shkreli's Turing out after pricing controversy erupts. FierceBiotech. Retrieved 11 October 2015, from  http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/bio-boots-shkrelis-turing-out-after-pricing-controversy-erupts/2015-09-23 

Healthcare.gov,. (2015). Essential Health Benefits. HealthCare.gov. Retrieved 11 October 2015, from  https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/essential-health-benefits/ 

News Medical,. (2014). Treat or eat: Many people forced to choose between food or medicine. News-Medical.net. Retrieved 11 October 2015, from  http://www.news-medical.net/news/20140321/Treat-or-eat-Many-people-forced-to-choose-between-food-or-medicine.aspx 

Yale. (1998). 98.07.02: The Population Explosion: Causes and Consequences. Yale.edu. Retrieved 11 October 2015, from  http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/7/98.07.02.x.html

Perception of Drug Companies
The author of this response has been asked to respond to several questions that pertain to the pharmaceutical industry. In order, those questions will be what practice, factor or event has been most damaging to the public perception of the pharmaceutical industry, what practice, factor or event has been most enhancing of the public perception of the pharmaceutical industry and what would be the most effective day for the medical product industry to improve its public image. While drugs are most certainly life-saving and life-sustaining, there are also some major problems that are present and thus must be dealt with.

While it is easy to point to the recent "pharma bro" brouhaha with Turing Pharmaceuticals and drug pricing overall, most people have coverage and what Turing did is not really that common in terms of frequency and the amount of companies that devolve into the practices that they…...

mla

References

CDC. (2016). Understanding the Epidemic -- Prescription Drug Overdose -- CDC Injury Center. Cdc.gov. Retrieved 18 February 2016, from  http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/ 

Chandler, A. (2015). Who Is 'Pharma Bro'? The Atlantic. Retrieved 18 February 2016, from  http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/12/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli/421083/

Addiction of Teenagers to Prescription Drugs
Addiction of teenage prescription drugs

The problem of addiction of teenagers to prescription drugs has been on rise in modern days. It is estimated that daily in the United States 2,500 youth abuse prescription drugs. This is not only a problem in the United States, but it also affects teenagers in Europe, South Asia, and Southern Africa. Over 15 million people have reported abusing prescription drugs globally. This is higher than those who reported abusing heroin, cocaine, and hallucinogens. A 2007 survey carried out in the United States in 2007 indicated that in one month 6% of 17 to 25-year-olds and 3.3% of 12 to 17-year-olds had abused prescription drugs. This might seem like a low number, but considering that this only happened in one month you can imagine how prevalent the rates would be in one year. A survey conducted in 2012 found that 24%…...

mla

References

Cranford, J.A., McCabe, S.E., & Boyd, C.J. (2013). Adolescents' nonmedical use and excessive medical use of prescription medications and the identification of substance use subgroups. Addictive Behaviors, 38(11), 2768-2771.

Drazdowski, T.K., Jaggi, L., Borre, A., & Kliewer, W.L. (2014). Use of Prescription Drugs and Futur e Delinquency among Adolescent Offenders. Journal of substance abuse treatment.

Havens, J.R., Young, A.M., & Havens, C.E. (2011). Nonmedical prescription drug use in a nationally representative sample of adolescents: Evidence of greater use among rural adolescents. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 165(3), 250-255.

McCabe, S.E., Boyd, C.J., & Young, A. (2007). Medical and nonmedical use of prescription drugs among secondary school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(1), 76-83.

ecommended Pricing Strategies:

As a pharmaceutical benefit manager, I have several primary stakeholders to whom I am responsible. These include: my organization, the employer as my client, the employees of the client as plan participants, the pharmacists dispensing the medications, and the pharmaceutical manufacturers and/or distributors. My job is to develop a plan that is profitable for my organization. I must also develop a plan that is cost-effective for the employer. The employees of the client must find the plan valuable and beneficial in the maintenance of their healthcare. The pharmacists must be compensated fairly for their time, and the pharmaceutical manufacturers and/or distributors must be able to make a profit in an increasingly competitive, rapidly changing industry. Developing a pricing strategy to meet these competing stakeholder needs is challenging and will require looking at each employer's unique pharmaceutical needs to determine the best pricing plan possible.

The MAC pricing strategy meets…...

mla

References

Jones, J.D. (2003). "Developing an effective generic prescription drug program." Benefits Quarterly, 19(1), p. 14-18.

Maximum allowable cost. (17 Feb 2009). Retrieved February 24, 2011, from http://www.gphaonline.org/resources/2009/maximum-allowable-cost-mac.

McClurg, J. (Jan 2009). "Understanding the Rx financial trail: Who pays what, when, where, and why." Employee Benefit News, 23(1). p. 41-42.

The FDA also, amongst others, has recommended that clinical trials used to support advertising claims be approved by the FDA and to institute stiff fines against those found gaily of deceptive tactics. (Turning Medicine Into Snake Oil...) There is little doubt from the research that pharmaceutical companies have to be made more accountable for their products and advertising promises.
eferences

Borden Anne. Vioxx Stroke isk could last for Years. 2007. etrieved June 1, 2007 at http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/00888/vioxx-stroke-risk.html

Deceptive Prescription Drug Marketing Tactics 'Common and Dangerous'. 2006.

etrieved June 1,2007, at http://www.uspirg.org/newsroom/health-care/health-care-news/deceptive-prescription-drug-marketing-tactics-common-and-dangerous

Introduction to the Health Care Industry: Health Expenditures and Services in the U.S. etrieved June 1, 2007, at http://www.plunkettresearch.com/HealthCare/HealthCareTrends/tabid/294/Default.aspx

O'Connor K. x for prescription drugs. etrieved June 1, 2007, at http://www.oconnorhealthanalyst.com/pgs/rx.html

Oxycontin Manufacturer Agrees to Plead Guilty and Pay Fine of $600,000,000.

etrieved June 1, 2007, at http://tyler.injuryboard.com/defective-products/oxycontin-manufacturer-agrees-to-plead-guilty-and-pay-fine-of-600000000.php?googleid=8636

Prescription Meds Changing Health Care. etrieved June 1, 2007, from Spending http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=60788

Silberner J. Common Diabetes Drug Found to Have Heart…...

mla

References

Borden Anne. Vioxx Stroke Risk could last for Years. 2007. Retrieved June 1, 2007 at  http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/00888/vioxx-stroke-risk.html 

Deceptive Prescription Drug Marketing Tactics 'Common and Dangerous'. 2006.

Retrieved June 1,2007, at  http://www.uspirg.org/newsroom/health-care/health-care-news/deceptive-prescription-drug-marketing-tactics-common-and-dangerous 

Introduction to the Health Care Industry: Health Expenditures and Services in the U.S. Retrieved June 1, 2007, at http://www.plunkettresearch.com/HealthCare/HealthCareTrends/tabid/294/Default.aspx

The Act creates a positive balance between government interests to save money and the interests of Medicare recipients to receive a wide range of drugs for their specific needs. The current ban on government negotiations with pharmaceutical companies serves to protect Medicate recipients by using the positives of the free market, such as the experience and purchasing power of PBMs. hile there are serious potential problems with this approach, such as the potential for fraud between pharmaceutical companies and private interests, overall the ban on government negotiations with pharmaceutical companies provides a good balance between recipient and government interests.
orks Cited

American Legislative Exchange Council. Prescription Drugs. 19 October 2005. http://www.alec.org/2/4/talking-points/7.html

Barry, Patricia. New Salvos in the Prescription Drug ars: Class action suits are exposing schemes that gouge consumers. AARP Bulletin, January 2005.

19 October 2005. http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/prescription/a2005-01-06-salvos.html

Dealey, Sam. Drug Dealings: Democrats had it right before. National Review Online, May 05, 2004, 9:12 A.M.…...

mla

Works Cited

American Legislative Exchange Council. Prescription Drugs. 19 October 2005.  http://www.alec.org/2/4/talking-points/7.html 

Barry, Patricia. New Salvos in the Prescription Drug Wars: Class action suits are exposing schemes that gouge consumers. AARP Bulletin, January 2005.

19 October 2005.  http://www.aarp.org/bulletin/prescription/a2005-01-06-salvos.html 

Dealey, Sam. Drug Dealings: Democrats had it right before. National Review Online, May 05, 2004, 9:12 A.M. 19 October 2005.  http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/dealey200405050912.asp

Nursing Leadership Health Policy
Health Policy Change

The health policy change encompasses Medicare Part D. Medicare D. is also referred to as the Medicare prescription drug benefit. It is part of the Medicare program that is purposed to bankroll the cost of prescription drugs together with coverage payments for prescription drugs for Medicare recipients (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2016). The proposed policy change with respect to Medicare Part D is the reduction and lessening of generic drug copayments to zero. In particular, this alteration will be a form of encouragement for the use of generic drugs amongst Medicare enrollees that are poorer by all in all eradicating their costs for generic drugs. Majority of the members of Medicare Part D that are categorized as having low income give out minimal compensation or nil for Part D prescription drugs. In the past year, with respect to generics, the costs varied between…...

mla

References

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2016). Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage. Retrieved from:  https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Prescription-Drug-Coverage/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/Downloads/CMS-4068-F3Column.pdf 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2016). Prescription Drug Coverage - General Information. Retrieved from:  https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Prescription-Drug-Coverage/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/index.html?redirect=/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/ 

Congress.gov. (2016). Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Retrieved from:  https://www.congress.gov/committee/senate-health-education-labor-and-pensions/sshr00 

Schultz, J. (2016). Proposed changes to Part D are long overdue. MedicareResources.Org. Retrieved from:  https://www.medicareresources.org/blog/2016/07/08/proposed-changes-to-part-d-are-long-overdue/

Teen Drug Abuse - Prescription or Not
Differences between nonalcoholic offspring of alcoholics (family history positive, FHP) and matched offspring of nonalcoholics (family history negative, FHN) have been identified on a variety of behavioral, cognitive, and neurological measures. Compared to FHN teens, FHP adolescents and young adults demonstrate more disturbed school careers, impulsivity, rebelliousness, and nonconformity (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2006); poorer neuropsychological performance (Worden & Slater, 2009); and significantly lower amplitude in P300 brain waves, which are believed to measure selective attention (Cicero, et al. 2005). Further, following ingestion of alcohol, sons of alcoholics report less body sway and less subjective intoxication (Grant, et al., 2005), higher levels of flushing (McBride, 2011), and decreased P300 amplitudes when performing difficult tasks (Foster, et al., 2009).

Not all individuals with a family history of alcohol dependence become alcohol and/or drug abusers, however, and genetics alone cannot account for the transmission…...

mla

Resources

Ajzen, I. (2010). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC]. (2006). Youth risk behavior surveillance -- United States, 2005. MMWR 2006, 55.

Cicero, T.J., Inciardi, J.A., & Munoz, A. (2005). Trends in abuse of OxyContin and other opioid analgesics in the United States: 2002-2004. The Journal of Pain, 6, 662-672.

Drug Enforcement Administration. (2005). Prescription pain medications: Frequently asked questions and answers for health care professionals and law enforcement personnel. Journal of Pain and Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy, 19(1), 71-104.

Pharmacy Ethics
The author of this report has been asked to review the legal and ethical considerations in play given the test case scenario surrounding Pharmacare and Compcare. As is quickly apparent while reading the case study, the company engaged in a long and extensive list of ethical and/or legal violations as a means to maximize profit and minimize the legal and other red tape that seems to bother them even though it is there for a very good reason. The ethical issues involved will be touched upon and analyzed. There will also be an exploration and analysis of direct-to-consumer marketing of drugs, whether John is the "investor" of AD23, the arguments about John being a whistleblower and the associated protections he would have if he is and examples of intellectual property theft that have occurred in the last two years or so. While bad things do incidentally happen and crop…...

Many people have suggested reasons that obesity remains prevalent in Salford, UK.  The low level of adult physical activity is believed to be the primary cause, but it is important to recognize that childhood obesity is also a factor in Salford.  In addition, one must compare other health measures in Salford to the rest of the UK to get a full picture.  In general, Salford is simply less healthy than the English average, with higher rates of adult smoking, smoking-related deaths, alcohol-related hospital stays, mental health conditions, dementia, and learning disabilities.  This seems to be directly linked to issues....

There are so many interesting topics to discuss surrounding the opioid epidemic,  There are debatable discussions about its root causes and questions of whether public response has been different given the impacted demographics.  Therefore, looking at any of the questions can provide opportunities for debate.  Before debating the topic, it is important to understand some of the facts about the epidemic.  In 2019, over 70,000 people died from drug overdose, 1.6 million people had an opioid disorder, 745,000 used heroin, 1.6 million misused prescription pain relievers for the first time, and 0.1....

Outline for an Essay on the Opioid Epidemic

I. Introduction

a. Overview of the opioid epidemic.

b. Brief history and how it evolved into a crisis.

II. The Scale of the Epidemic (500 words)

a. Statistics on opioid addiction, overdoses, and deaths.

b. The impact on various demographics and regions.

III. Causes of the Opioid Epidemic (600 words)

a. Over-prescription of painkillers and pharmaceutical companies' roles.

b. Economic factors and healthcare system issues.

c. Social and psychological factors contributing to addiction.

IV. Effects of the Opioid Epidemic (600 words)

a. On individuals (health, psychological impact, and....

1. The Role of Exercise in Preventing Cardiovascular Disease in Men: A Comprehensive Examination

Introduction: Highlight the prevalence and impact of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among men and emphasize the role of exercise as a preventive measure.

Body:
Discuss the physiological mechanisms by which exercise improves cardiovascular health, including increased blood flow, improved blood pressure regulation, and enhanced lipid profiles.
Explore the specific types and intensities of exercise that are most effective in reducing CVD risk.
Review evidence from clinical trials and observational studies demonstrating the association between regular exercise and lower incidence of CVD events.

Conclusion: Summarize the key findings supporting the protective....