Author Interviews, Cannabis / 30.08.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Luke Cavanah, BS Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Scranton, PA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: It is well-known that schedule II stimulants, which are those that are highly addictive and include amphetamine, methylphenidate, and lisdexamfetamine, have had increasing use and misuse in the US. Despite understanding the presence of this phenomenon, the reason for it is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to see if rising rates of schedule II stimulants are related to the legalization of medical marijuana. We were interested in this because schedule II stimulants are primarily used as the treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), chronic cannabis use has been demonstrated to cause neurocognitive deficits resembling that of ADHD, and the conditions have been shown to affect similar brain regions. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis / 07.07.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Edward Liu, BA Second year medical student Department of Medical Education Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Scranton, PA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The use pattern of two FDA approved cannabinoids, dronabinol (Marinol) and cannabidiol (Epidiolex) has not been previously studied. Dronabinol has been approved in the United States since 1985 for chemotherapy induced nausea as well as vomiting and HIV-induced anorexia,1,2 whereas cannabidiol has been approved since 2018 to treat childhood epileptic disorders, Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndrome.3 This longitudinal study examined Medicaid claims between 2016-2020 for these two prescription cannabinoids to better comprehend the state-level pharmacoepidemiologic trends and distribution of these drugs in US Medicaid amidst the increasing use of non-pharmaceutical formulations of cannabis. (more…)
Author Interviews / 25.04.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mariah W Panoussi, BS, MBS Second-year medical student at Saba University School of Medicine, Saba, Dutch Caribbean Department of Medical Education Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Scranton, PA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Clinical guidelines currently state that the atypical antipsychotic clozapine effectively treats patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) 1. TRS occurs in up to one-third of patients with schizophrenia.2,3 However, there is evidence that demonstrates a lack of clozapine utilization by providers.2 This underutilization has been attributed to clozapine’s numerous adverse effects, in particular agranulocytosis.4 Other barriers include close monitoring for agranulocytosis, changes in administration and registry programs, as well as concerns regarding physician’s attitude toward and knowledge about clozapine.4,5 These barriers have thus caused a sizable variation in clozapine usage throughout the US. Using Medicaid data from 2015-2019, we conducted a secondary data analysis to examine the varied usage of clozapine in the US Medicaid programs.6 (more…)
Author Interviews / 13.04.2023

Medicalresearch.com Interview with: Edward Liu, BA Second year medical student Department of Medical Education Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Scranton, PA Medicalresearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The United States’ opioid epidemic continues to rise because of increasing opioid use and availability, contributing to prescription opioid misuse, mortality, and rising cost.1 The worsening health and economic impact of opioid use disorder in the US warrants further attention on the adverse effects and distribution pattern of commonly prescribed opioids like oxycodone (OxyContin), fentanyl (Duragesic), and morphine (MS-Contin). Using the Automated Reports and Consolidated Ordering System (ARCOS) database,2 a comprehensive data collection system of pharmacies and hospitals distribution of Schedule II and III controlled substances in the US with the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS)3 has never been done before. This approach may provide a more complete picture of the risks of prescription opioids which can include drowsiness, nausea, and potentially fatal respiratory depression.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, JAMA, Pharmaceutical Companies / 06.07.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: SooYoung VanDeMark, MBS Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Scranton, Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?   Response: Health care providers utilize subscription-based, point-of-care databases such as DynaMed and UpToDate to provide clinical care guidance and remain current on the latest evidence-based findings. Both of these websites maintain this content through a cadre of physician contributors who write and edit articles for these sites. These physician contributors are required to self-report any conflicts of interest (COI) as outlined by the respective policies on each website. However, prior COI research into similarly self-regulated areas, such as medical and pharmacology textbooks, and clinical practice guidelines, has found both appreciable potential COI and inconsistencies between self-reported and industry mandated disclosures (1-3). This study (4) explored the accuracy of physician contributors to DynaMed and UpToDate by comparing their self-reported disclosure status with the financial remunerations they received from the healthcare industry (e.g., pharmaceutical companies) as reported to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Open Payments database. Physician contributors who reported “nothing to disclose” on their respective article topic but had an entry on Open Payments for having received money from industry, were classified as discordant and, thus, as having the potential for a COI. Additionally, total remuneration, gender, and payment category were investigated more in depth for each database. (more…)
ADHD, Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Eating Disorders, Pharmacology / 09.01.2022

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sneha Vaddadi, BS Department of Medical Education Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine Scranton, Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The prescription stimulants methylphenidate, amphetamine, and lisdexamfetamine, classified as Schedule II substances, are sympathomimetic drugs with therapeutic use widely used in the US for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Changes in criteria for diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in 2013 and approval of lisdexamfetamine for binge eating disorder in 2015 may have impacted usage patterns. The goal of this study1 was to extend upon past research2 to compare the pharmacoepidemiology of these stimulants in the United States from 2010–2017, including consideration to variation within geographic regions, the Hispanic population, and the Medicaid population. (more…)