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The study aims to evaluate and assess the risk of chronic dialysis and mortality among those individuals that have survived acute kidney injury requiring dialysis. The results indicate that there was an increased risk of chronic dialysis in the case of such patients; however, not all-cause mortality.

Background Prescription opioid use is highly associated with risk of opioid-related death, with 1 of every 550 chronic opioid users dying within approximately 2.5 years of their first opioid prescription. Although gabapentin is widely perceived as safe, drug-induced respiratory depression has been described when gabapentin is used alone or in combination with other medications. Because gabapentin and opioids are both commonly prescribed for pain, the likelihood of co-prescription is high. However, no published studies have examined whether concomitant gabapentin therapy is associated with an increased risk of accidental opioid-related death in patients receiving opioids. The objective of this study was to investigate whether co-prescription of opioids and gabapentin is associated with an increased risk of accidental opioid-related mortality. Methods and findings We conducted a population-based nested case-control study among opioid users who were residents of Ontario, Canada, between August 1, 1997, and December 31, 2013, using administrative databases. Cases, defined as opioid users who died of an opioid-related cause, were matched with up to 4 controls who also used opioids on age, sex, year of index date, history of chronic kidney disease, and a disease risk index. After matching, we included 1,256 cases and 4,619 controls. The primary exposure was concomitant gabapentin use in the 120 days preceding the index date. A secondary analysis characterized gabapentin dose as low ( Conclusions In this study we found that among patients receiving prescription opioids, concomitant treatment with gabapentin was associated with a substantial increase in the risk of opioid-related death. Clinicians should consider carefully whether to continue prescribing this combination of products and, when the combination is deemed necessary, should closely monitor their patients and adjust opioid dose accordingly. Future research should investigate whether a similar interaction exists between pregabalin and opioids., Author(s): Tara Gomes 1,2,3,4,*, David N. Juurlink 2,3,5,6, Tony Antoniou 1,2,7, Muhammad M. Mamdani 1,2,3,4,6,8, J. Michael Paterson 2,3,9, Wim van den Brink 10 Introduction Prescription opioid overdoses are an [...]

Objectives. We studied whether 5 regulatory agency advisories concerning the possible increased risk of suicidal behavior during antidepressant therapy had an effect on antidepressant prescription trends in Ontario. Methods. We conducted a population-based, time-series analysis of new monthly antidepressant prescriptions dispensed by the Ontario Drug Benefits program in 3 age groups (younger than 20 years, 20-65 years old, and older than 65 years) over a 7-year period (April 1998 to March 2005). The impact of five advisories about the possible risk of suicide during antidepressant therapy was also analyzed. Results. The number of new prescriptions for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as a group did not change after any antidepressant warning in any age group. However, the rate of new paroxetine prescriptions in patients younger than 20 years declined by 54% immediately after the first warning for paroxetine was issued in the United Kingdom in June 2003. That same warning had no effect on new paroxetine prescriptions in the other age categories. Conclusion. The warning about paroxetine use in depressed patients younger than 18 years that was issued in the United Kingdom led to a significant decrease in new paroxetine prescriptions for young patients in this country. By contrast, warnings in North America did not influence new antidepressant prescription rates in any patient group. doi:10.L2105/AJPH.2006.087262

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ahj.2005.06.034 Byline: Peter C. Austin (a)(b)(c), Muhammad M. Mamdani (a)(c)(f), David N. Juurlink (a)(c)(d)(e), David A. Alter (a)(c)(g), Jack V. Tu (a)(b)(c)(d)(e) Abstract: The benefits of statins for the secondary prevention of coronary heart disease are well established. Previous research indicates that patients at the greatest risk of cardiovascular events are the least likely to receive statins. We explored the potential reduction in mortality at the population level that could result from improving statin prescribing among patients least likely to be prescribed a statin after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Author Affiliation: (a) Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (b) Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (c) Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (f) Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (d) Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research Program (Sunnybrook and Women's College Site), University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (e) Division of General Internal Medicine, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health, Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (g) Division of Cardiology, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Article History: Received 18 March 2005; Accepted 17 June 2005 Article Note: (footnote) The Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences is supported in part by a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care. The opinions, results, and conclusions are those of the authors and no endorsement by the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care or by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences is intended or should be inferred. This research was supported in part by operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Heart and Stroke Foundation to the Canadian Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Team. Drs Austin, Mamdani, and Juurlink are supported by New Investigator awards from the CIHR. Dr Juurlink is also supported by the University of Toronto Drug Safety Research Group. Dr Alter is supported by a New Investigator award from the CIHR and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Dr Tu is supported by a Canada Research Chair in Health Services Research.

Two population-based, nested case-control studies were conducted among case patients treated in the hospital for hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. The experiment revealed that as compared with the use of other broad-spectrum oral antibiotics, including other fluoroquinolones, the use of gatifloxacin among outpatients is associated with an increased risk of in-hospital treatment for both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.