17 research outputs found

    Position 1: No further action by the pharmacist is warranted

    No full text

    The European rescue of the Washington Consensus? EU and IMF lending to Central and Eastern European countries

    Get PDF
    The latest global financial crisis has allowed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a spectacular comeback. But despite its notorious reputation as a staunch advocate of restrictive economic policies, the Fund has displayed less preference for austerity in recent crisis lending. Though widely welcomed as overdue, the IMF’s shift away from what John Williamson coined the ‘Washington Consensus’ was met with resistance from the European Union (EU) where it concerned Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. The situation of hard-hit Hungary, Latvia, and Romania propelled unprecedented cooperation between the IMF and the EU, in which the EU has very actively promoted orthodox measures in return for loans. We argue that this represents a European rescue of the Washington Consensus. The case of Latvia is paradigmatic for the profound disagreements between an austerity-demanding EU and a less austere IMF. The IMF’s stance contradicts conventional wisdom about the organization as the guardian of economic orthodoxy. To solve this puzzle, we shed light on three complementary factors of (non)learning that have shaped the EU’s relations vis-à-vis CEE borrowing countries in comparison to the IMF’s: (1) a disadvantageous institutional setting; (2) vociferous creditor coalitions; (3) the precarious eurozone project

    Indinavir and rifabutin drug interactions in healthy volunteers.

    Get PDF
    Two studies examined the pharmacokinetics of indinavir and rifabutin when coadministered in healthy subjects. Rifabutin, which induces the expression of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A, and indinavir, which inhibits that enzyme system, are frequently coadministered in patients infected with HIV. The second study was undertaken to determine if altering the dose of rifabutin coadministered with indinavir would minimize the drug interaction observed in the first study. Two studies, each with a three-period crossover design, were performed. In study 1, standard doses of rifabutin and indinavir (300 mg of rifabutin qd and 800 mg indinavir q8h) were administered as monotherapy (with placebo to the other drug) or in combination to 10 volunteers for 10 days. In study 2, 150 mg qd of rifabutin together with 800 mg q8h of indinavir, 300 mg qd of rifabutin alone, or 800 mg q8h of indinavir alone was administered to 14 volunteers for 10 days. In study 1, the geometric mean ratio (GMR) (90% confidence interval [CI]) of the AUC((0-8h)) of indinavir, coadministered with rifabutin 300 mg qd compared to indinavir alone (with rifabutin placebo), was 0.66 (0.56, 0.77), while that of the AUC((0-24h)) of rifabutin, coadministered with indinavir compared to rifabutin alone (with indinavir placebo), was 2.73 (1.99, 3.77). In study 2, the GMR (90% CI) of the AUC((0-8h)) of indinavir, coadministered with rifabutin 150 mg qd compared to indinavir alone, was 0.68 (0.60, 0.76), while that of the AUC((0-24h)) of rifabutin, when rifabutin 150 mg qd was coadministered with indinavir compared to rifabutin 300 mg qd alone, was 1.54 (1.33, 1.79). For both studies 1 and 2, indinavir and rifabutin administered alone or in combination were generally well tolerated. No clinical or laboratory adverse experience was serious. These data demonstrate the important pharmacokinetic interactions between indinavir and rifabutin when they are coadministered. Indeed, these observations formed the basis for the subsequent ACTG 365 study that explored dose adjustments for these agents in combination regimens to preserve the sustained antiviral activity of indinavir in the absence of adverse events as a result of elevated circulating levels of rifabutin

    On-the-road driving performance the morning after bedtime use of suvorexant 15 and 30 mg in healthy elderly

    Get PDF
    Suvorexant is a first-in-class orexin receptor antagonist for treating insomnia. There is a general concern that hypnotics may impair next-morning driving ability. The objective of this study was to evaluate next-morning driving performance in older adults after single and repeated doses of suvorexant. Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, 4-period crossover study in 24 healthy volunteers (10 females), aged 65-80 years. Subjects were treated with suvorexant (15 and 30 mg) for eight consecutive nights, zopiclone 7.5 mg nightly on days 1 and 8, and placebo. Driving performance was assessed on days 2 and 9 (9 h after dosing) using a 1-h standardized highway driving test in normal traffic, measuring standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP). Drug-placebo differences in SDLP > 2.4 cm were considered to reflect clinically meaningful driving impairment. Driving performance as measured by SDLP was not impaired following suvorexant. Mean drug-placebo differences in SDLP following suvorexant 15 and 30 mg on day 2 and 9 were 0.6 cm or less. Their 90 % CIs were all below the threshold of 2.4 cm for clinical relevance and included zero, indicating effects were not clinically meaningful or statistically significant. Symmetry analysis showed no significant differences between the number of participants who had SDLP differences > 2.4 cm and those who had SDLP differences There was no clinically meaningful residual effect of suvorexant 15 and 30 mg on next-morning driving (9 h after bedtime dosing) in healthy older adults, as assessed by mean changes in SDLP and by the number of participants on drug versus placebo that exceeded a predetermined threshold for clinically meaningful impairment
    corecore