PodcastRx PodcastRx by Diamond Pharmacy Services

Nancy Chia from the OPTICS team is back for another psychiatric pharmacy care conversation. This time we focus in on the role of benzodiazepines for treating anxiety disorders. We touch briefly on the characteristics of some common anxiety disorders and then take a closer look at the reasons why benzodiazepines are a preferred treatment option for their acute symptoms. We also examine the downsides of benzodiazepine use, special concerns in the corrections environment, ideal therapeutic timeframes, treatment alternatives and more.

For More About the OPTICS Clinical Pharmacy Team:
www.diamondpharmacy.com/clinical-services

As a young girl in West Africa, Nancy Chia was fascinated by the seemingly “magical” properties of medication to treat everyday illness. Now as a clinical pharmacist with Diamond’s OPTICS team, Nancy continues to parlay her childhood curiosities around medication into making a difference for vulnerable patients, especially regarding mental health care in the corrections environment. Nancy joins us to talk about her recent professional focus on psychiatric medications, her first impressions of correctional pharmacy practice, the overrepresentation of mental illness in corrections, shortages of mental health care professionals, and how ultimately pharmacists can help to ease an overburdened mental health care system.

For more on the OPTICS clinical pharmacy team:
www.diamondpharmacy.com/clinical-services

On this episode, Chris Bender from the OPTICS clinical pharmacy team stops by to preview his upcoming NCCHC spring conference presentation on proper inhaler use. With some 38 possible inhaler therapies available for asthma and COPD, providers can be easily overwhelmed and out of breath with the choices. I talk with Chris about demystifying inhaler therapies for better patient and cost outcomes, along with the factors behind higher asthma/COPD rates in the correctional patient population, the mechanics of inhalers, inmate security considerations, and more. If you're going to NCCHC at the end of April, be sure to check out Chris's entire presentation.

Mentioned in the Show:

NCCHC Conference Info:
https://events.ncchc.org/spring-conference/HOME

Allergy & Asthma Network Respiratory Treatments Poster:
https://store.allergyasthmanetwork.org/digital-downloads/respiratory-treatments-digital-english-version-11-x-8-1-2

In November of 2023, Diamond's sister company InnovaScript became the official pharmacy partner to the Victoria's Voice Foundation, a non-profit drug education and addiction prevention support organization founded in memory of Victoria Siegel, a young woman who tragically lost her life to an accidental drug overdose.

At the heart of this new partnership is the #GetGiveSave campaign, a national effort to increase the access to and the awareness of naloxone. On this episode, we welcome Mark Cady-Archilla, corporate partnerships director for the Victoria’s Voice Foundation; Jason Baker, director of strategic initiatives for Diamond; and Chris Bender, pharmacist with Diamond's OPTICS team for a deeper discussion of this partnership and what it’s doing to put naloxone in more lifesaving locations.

Along the way, Mark gives us a greater introduction to Victoria’s Voice (and shares his deeply personal connection to the foundation’s work), we recap the efficacy and life-saving simplicity of naloxone, and we discuss the barriers of naloxone stigma and access, among many other areas of discussion. It’s a longer conversation, but there’s no shortage of powerful moments to be heard.

Resources Referenced in the Discussion:

The Victoria's Voice Foundation
www.victoriasvoice.foundation
www.getgivesave.org

Joint InnovaScript/Victoria's Voice Foundation Website:
vvf.innovascript.com

WFTV Investgates:"Hidden in Plain Sight: The Fentanyl Crisis"
https://www.wftv.com/news/watch-hidden-plain-sight-fentanyl-crisis/b939d91c-dd6d-45fe-ac7b-fd5586b170cf/

On this episode, we welcome (for the first time) executive consultant pharmacist Tim Welsh. As a youngster growing up in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, Tim’s fascination with drug stores and his admiration for a local pharmacist set him on a career path that made stops at Duquesne University, retail chains, and ultimately Diamond. With almost 26 years at Diamond now under his belt, Tim looks back at his formative pharmacy experiences and sheds light on the unique challenges and rewards of being a consultant pharmacist for correctional and long-term care facilities. If you have little understanding of the role of pharmacists beyond the retail and hospital settings (as Tim himself once did), then you’ll definitely want to listen to our conversation.

For this final episode of 2023, we welcome back regular contributor Chris Bender from the OPTICS clinical team to pick up our conversation about GLP-1 weight loss medications. With the FDA approval of Zepbound (or tirzepatide) for weight loss in November, the profile of these potent and high-profile medications only continues to rise. We take a closer look at tirzepatide- how it compares to semaglutide, what the clinical data shows for its potency, and what promise it shows for obese and overweight patients. We also discuss some exciting new weight loss medications in development and what all this new drug development and approval could mean for the future of bariatric surgery.

Referenced in Show/Further Reading:

PodcastRx Episode 36: GLP-1 Agonists and Weight Loss: A Closer Look with Chris Bender, Pharm. D., BCACP

"Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity"
The New England Journal of Medicine
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2206038

"Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity"
The New England Journal of Medicine
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183