Events and hospitality

For bona fide educational meetings, this can usually be reimbursed under the terms of the country codes, but there may be restrictions on the class of travel that is allowed to be reimbursed. 

In addition, alcohol should be provided only in small amounts with the meal. 

According to the codes of most countries, pharmaceutical companies should not pay for entertainment, and this includes  

The following guidance is given with regard to hospitality  

International events Pharmaceutical companies should not organise or sponsor events for healthcare professionals (including sponsoring individuals to attend such events taking place outside their home country) unless it is appropriate and justified to do so from the logistical or security point of view. International scientific congresses and symposia that involve participants from many countries are therefore justified and permitted. 

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Page, R. L. 2nd, Ruscin,J. M. (2006 Dec). The risk of adverse drug events and hospital-related morbidity and mortality among older adults with potentially inappropriate medication use. The American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy, 4(4), 297—305. 

FIGURE 21.1. The FDA Form 3500A (as MEDWATCH form) is used to make initial reports of each and every serious drug-related event. Its use by physicians and hospitals is voluntary, however. 

Classen D.C., Pestotnik, S.L., Evans, R.S., Lloyd, J.F., Burke, J.P. (1997) Adverse drug events in hospitalized patients. Excess length of stay, extra costs, and attributable mortality. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 277 (4), 301-306. 

Bates, D.W., Miller, E.B., Cullen, D.J., Burdiek, L., Williams, L., and Laird, N., Patient risk faetors for adverse drug events in hospitalized patients, zlrcA Intern. Med., 159 2553-2560 (1999). 

With the notable exception of the Veteran s Administration (VA) hospital system, health care providers, both in primary care and mental health care, do a relatively poor job of identifying PTSD. There are two basic steps to diagnosing PTSD (1) determining that the patient has been exposed to a traumatic event, and (2) determining that the trauma-exposed patient is experiencing symptoms that fulfill diagnostic criteria for the disorder. 

Compound is tested in 1,000 to 5,000 patients in clinics and hospitals. Physicians monitor patients closely to confirm efficacy and identify adverse events. 

For medicines introduced recently - as indicated by an inverted black triangle (T) in the product entry in the British National Eormulary, MIMS and the ABPI Data Sheet Compendium - doctors and hospital pharmacists are asked to report all suspected reactions. This includes any adverse or any unexpected event, however minor, which could conceivably be attributed to the medicine. Reports should be made despite uncertainty about a cause or relationship, irrespective of whether or not the reaction is well recognised and even when other medicines have been taken concurrently. (The legal position for the pharmaceutical industry requires the reporting of aU serious ADRs from the UK or other EU countries, and of all serious and unexpected ADRs from coimtries outside the EU). 

In trials of hospitalized patients tricyclic antidepressants have generally been more efficacious than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Otherwise there are no overall differences between the drugs in terms of tolerability or efficacy in primary care settings. After reviewing 15 trials it was concluded that drags are effective in the treatment of dysthymia with no differences between and within class of drugs. Tricyclic antidepressants are more likely to cause adverse events and dropouts. As dysthymia is a chronic condition, there remains little information on quality of life and medium or longterm outcome. 

COMMIT or CCS-2 (3 I), conducted in China and without a loading dose of clopidogrel, tried to determine whether adding clopidogrel to acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) can produce a further reduction in mortality and the risk of vascular events in hospital for patients admitted with ST-elevation Ml (STEMI). 

All stents were deployed successfully. One patient, who developed subacute artery closure a few hours after the procedure, presented the only adverse event during hospitalization. During the first month, 19 patients (25%) had minor side effects, six patients in Phase I (18%) and 13 in Phase II (3 I %). Only three discontinued the medication (3.9%), one in Phase I and two in Phase II. The most frequent side effects were diarrhea (7.8%) and skin rash (9.2%). 

The mean age of the patients was 61 12 years. A total of 21 patients (70%) were males. Systemic hypertension was the most frequent coronary risk factor, involving 15 patients (49%), followed by smoking in 10 patients (33%), and dyslipi-demia in 8 (27%), whereas only three patients (10%) were diabetics. Eleven patients (37%) had a prior history of myocardial infarction (Ml). The procedure was successful in all patients. There were no in-hospital events and no elevation... 

Thrombotic (blood clot) events, and subsequent complications, are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the general population.1 In 2005, it was estimated that there were more than 900,000 total venous thromboembolism events in the United States,2 two thirds of which were acquired in hospital. More than 600,000 of those were nonfatal venous thromboembolism events. Nearly 300,000 were fatal events, including more than 2,200 cases of deep venous thrombosis and 294,000 cases of pulmonary embolism. The majority deaths (93%) were due to sudden fatal pulmonary embolism, or were a consequence of undiagnosed venous thromboembolism. It was estimated that 340,000 patients developed complications from venous thromboembolism, including 336,000 with postthrombotic syndrome and 3,300 with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. 

Troponin enzymes consist of troponin T, C and I which are located within cardiac and skeletal muscle. Cardiac isoforms of troponin T and I are exclusively expressed in cardiac myocytes. They act as sensitive and specific markers of cardiac damage. An initial rise in troponin may be seen as early as 3-4 hours after a cardiac event, and is usually measured on admission to hospital. However a rise in troponin may be delayed therefore the initial measurement taken on admission is repeated by a further blood sample 12 hours after the onset of chest pain. 

A memorable event in this period was the visit of the British Association for the Advancement of Science to Leicester in 1933. It was the custom at that time for the Sectional Dinner to be open only to male members, and this custom fell particularly unfairly on women chemists. With characteristic energy and hospitality, Mrs. (later Lady) Robinson arranged a dinner party at the same time as the Sectional Dinner, in the same hotel and with the same menu, to which she invited other women chemists as well as wives of the sectional officers and of other prominent members. This bold action finally broke down the practice of restricting the dinner to men, and at all meetings of the British Association subsequent to 1933 the dinners of Section B have been graced by the presence of ladies.01... 

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