FDA has issued a Safety Announcement warning that serious allergic reactions have been reported with the use of the antipsychotic medication asenapine maleate (Saphris, Merck). Read full article.

A monthly review of the
peer-reviewed literature by
Drug Topics' Editorial Advisor
Anna D. Garrett, PharmD, BCPS. Anna Garrett is manager, Outpatient Clinical Pharmacy Programs, Mission Hospital, Asheville, N.C.

Drugs such as Taxol, Cytarabine, Daunorubicin, Doxil, and Leucovorin are in short supply, delaying patients with various forms of cancer from getting the treatments they need or forcing them to seek alternative, possibly less-effective treatments, FDA announced recently. Read full article.

Only one-fifth of children in Ohio who are prescribed antidepressants complete the recommended mimimum 6-month course of drugs to treat depression, reported a new study. Read full article.

Annual flu vaccines are the best way to protect children from life-threatening pneumonia, according to new guidelines from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Disease Society of America. Read full article.

This year's annual meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy features numerous vital clinical pharmacy sessions, the second annual Clinical Pharmacy Challenge, and professional development and networking forums. Read full article.

FDA has approved orphenadrine citrate injection, USP (Sagent Pharmaceuticals), a skeletal muscle relaxant as an adjunct to rest, physical therapy, and other measures to support relief from acute, painful musculoskeletal conditions. Read full article.

FDA has approved crizotinib (Xalkori, Pfizer), the first and only therapy specifically for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer that is anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive as detected by an FDA-approved test. Read full article.