Friday, June 4, 2010

Notes from AAN 2010: Part II

From James Beck Ph.D., Director of Research Programs

As promised on Friday, here’s an additional update from last month’s American Academy of Neurology (AAN) annual meeting.

In addition to the study mentioned above, another interesting one - presented by Nasim R. Khadem and Melissa J. Nirenberg, M.D., Ph.D. – investigated the rates of pharmacy errors in Parkinson’s medications.

In this small, prospective study of 73 individuals, the investigators found that about ten percent of people with Parkinson's had the incorrect Parkinson's medication dispensed to them during a one-year period. Dr. Nirenberg alluded to this problem in her recent PD ExpertBriefing (and subsequent newsletter article (see page 4), but this is the first example of data to demonstrate the precise rate of these errors for people living with PD.

Of the other findings this study highlighted, two were noteworthy:

  • 50 percent of the prescriptions were made using computerized physician order entry system

  • Those individuals who noticed the change in their medication and questioned it still received the wrong information from their pharmacy
Since the effects of an incorrect dosage can be very debilitating, this study just emphasizes the need to be ever vigilant when you get your prescriptions refilled.

Have you had problems at the pharmacy? Please let us know about your experiences.

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