The Dose, Issue 03

Happy Thanksgiving, readers! We're back with a new issue of The Dose by Drug Topics .

ACR Convergence 2024

Estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that an estimated 21% of the US population—that's 51.6 million people—experience chronic pain, 6.9% of whom experience high-impact chronic pain, or pain that leads to substantial restrictions on daily activities. As the primary point of contact for many patients, there's a significant role for pharmacists to play in helping patients manage their stiffness, aches, and more serious pain concerns.

Nonopioid Pain Management

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting 32.5 million US adults—making access to nonopioid pain management options crucial. Check out our roundup of nonopioid osteoarthritis treatment options here:

Compared to the general population, veterans bear a significant burden of chronic pain. Due to this high prevalence—and pain that is frequently more severe than the average adult—veterans are at an increased risk for opioid use disorder and opioid overdose, making nonopioid pain management alternatives crucial.

Reproductive Health

As a first-line treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, methotrexate—a known teratogenic medication—is one of the most commonly prescribed therapies. Women are twice as likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis as men, presenting issues for women of childbearing age on methotrexate therapy. For these women, reproductive health counseling is crucial, but there's a significant deficiency in education for women living with autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Expert Insights on Avian Influenza

Earlier this year, a dairy farm worker in Texas became the first diagnosed human case of avian influenza A(H5) in the US since 2022. Since then, a total of 53 individuals in 7 states have been diagnosed. Although public health officials and infectious disease experts are keeping a close eye on the situation, there is "no evidence of human-to-human transmission," said Robert Hopkins , MD, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) , in a recent interview with Drug Topics .

"When people get it, it's almost always been confirmed to be directly from animals to humans," added David Hill , MD, director of clinical research at the American Lung Association . "The virus, in its current state, isn't evolved to readily spread from human to human."

For more on bird flu, check out this feature from our associate editor Brian Nowosielski :

FDA Updates

Late last week, the FDA approved BridgeBio 's acoramidis (Attrubt) for use in adults with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), the first and only FDA approved therapy that specifies near-complete TTR stabilization. Check out our coverage of this landmark approval here, or take a deeper dive into ATTR-CM outcomes with data presented earlier this year at the Heart Failure Society of America annual meeting.

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