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Biomedical subjects

Ian W Boyd

Publications and source records attributed to Ian W Boyd.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

A study of codispensing with sodium alendronate in Australia.

AIM: To estimate the percentage of patients dispensed alendronate who were also dispensed another drug for treatment of an upper gastrointestinal disorder ('GI' drug). METHODS: The Australian Health Insurance Commission (HIC) Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) database was searched to identify a cohort of patients for whom alendronate or calcitriol had been dispensed and had also been dispensed a GI drug. RESULTS: The number of patients dispensed a GI drug were 6.7% for alendronate and 7.5% for calcitriol with H(2)-receptor antagonists accounting for the majority of usage. This difference of - 0.8% (95% confidence interval -1.6, 0.1) is not significant. CONCLUSION: There was no excess use of GI drugs in patients taking alendronate compared with those taking calcitriol and the Australian HIC PBS database is useful for identifying large numbers of patients who have been dispensed combinations of drugs.

Alendronate↗
PubMed2006

Risk factors for rhabdomyolysis with simvastatin and atorvastatin.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of risk factors for rhabdomyolysis with simvastatin and atorvastatin in cases reported to the Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC). DESIGN: Reports meeting the definition of rhabdomyolysis were reviewed for risk factors including age > or = 70 years, dose > or = 40 mg, hepatic dysfunction, diabetes mellitus, hyperkalaemia, hypothyroidism and the use of concomitant interacting medications. RESULTS: Only one report associated with simvastatin and five reports associated with atorvastatin did not list any risk factors for rhabdomyolysis. Interacting medicines featured in 77% of reports of rhabdomyolysis associated with simvastatin and 44% of reports associated with atorvastatin. A comparison of the age profile for reports of atorvastatin- and simvastatin-associated rhabdomyolysis with that for all adverse drug reaction reports received, and for all reports of muscle disorders, suggested a trend towards an increasing risk of rhabdomyolysis with increasing age with simvastatin but not with atorvastatin. Similarly, comparing prescribed tablet strengths from Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme data with the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor ('statin') doses in reports of rhabdomyolysis suggested a dose-related risk with simvastatin, but a less increased risk with high-dose atorvastatin. CONCLUSION: Risk factors for rhabdomyolysis featured in nearly all of the reports of statin-associated rhabdomyolysis and the majority of reports listed multiple risk factors, although dependence on risk factors appeared to be stronger with simvastatin than atorvastatin. The multiplication of risk factors in patients taking simvastatin and atorvastatin should be minimised.

Atorvastatin↗
PubMed2002

The role of the Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee (ADRAC) in monitoring drug safety.

The Australian adverse drug reaction reporting system is acknowledged as one of the best in the world. Despite its small population of less than 20 million people, Australia's current ADR reporting rate of over 12,000 reports per year places it in the top few nations in terms of reports per capita. The ADRAC program has been in operation for over 30 years. Australia was a founding member of the WHO International Drug Monitoring Programme which commenced in 1968 and currently there are about 153,000 reports in the ADRAC database. Reports from health professionals have uncovered a number of significant safety problems over the years. Of particular importance are flucloxacillin-induced hepatitis, amoxycillin/clavulanate-induced hepatitis, and the association of cystitis with tiaprofenic acid. The number and quality of the reports has allowed an understanding of the characteristics of the reactions and, using ADRAC reporters as a major source of cases, case-control studies have been completed which have identified risk factors. ADRAC's review of Australian reports has highlighted many important associations that have been disseminated through the Australian Adverse Drug Reactions Bulletin.

Australia↗