Online Pharmacy Training

What Is It? Cogan's syndrome is a rare, rheumatic disease characterized by inflammation of the ears and eyes. Cogan's syndrome can lead to vision difficulty, hearing loss and dizziness. The condition may also be associated with blood-vessel inflammation (called vasculitis) in other areas of the body that can cause major organ damage or, in a small number of cases, even death. It most commonly occurs in a person's 20s or 30s. The cause is not known. However, one theory is that it is an autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks tissue in the eye and ear.

You’re in the drug store, looking for a fever-reducing medicine for your children. They range in age from 6 months to 7 years, and you want to buy one product you can use for all of them. So you buy liquid acetaminophen in concentrated drops for infants, figuring you can use the dropper for the baby and a teaspoon for the oldest. This could be a dangerous mistake.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Xalkori (crizotinib) to treat certain patients with late-stage (locally advanced or metastatic), non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) who express the abnormal anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) gene. Xalkori is being approved with a companion diagnostic test that will help determine if a patient has the abnormal ALK gene, a first-of-a-kind genetic test called the Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH Probe Kit.

During the first trimester of pregnancy in particular, hormonal changes are responsible for nausea and vomiting that's often labeled "morning sickness." The womenshealth.gov website suggests how to minimize symptoms of morning sickness: Eat slowly, and consume a number of small meals throughout the day instead of three large ones. Don't eat foods that are fried, spicy or greasy. Cereal, rice or bananas are good choices. Eat your meals well before lying down. Eat dry foods, such as toast or crackers, after waking in the morning. Avoid smells that can trigger nausea.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved tapentadol extended release ( Nucynta , Janssen Pharmaceuticals) for moderate to severe chronic pain.

A new set of evidence-based guidelines provides an algorithm for reducing colchicine doses to prevent toxicity in patients who are also taking drugs such as cyclosporine, ketoconazole, ritonavir, clarithromycin, azithromycin, verapamil extended release (ER), or diltiazem ER. The research group was led by Robert A. Terkeltaub, MD, from the Veterans Administration San Diego Medical Center in California, and the new report appears in the August issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism .

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) to treat Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and a rare lymphoma known as systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). Lymphomas are cancers of the lymphatic system. Adcetris is an antibody-drug conjugate that combines an antibody and drug, allowing the antibody to direct the drug to a target on lymphoma cells known as CD30.