hep-druginteractionsorg) GPP 831 We recommend starting ART in

hep-druginteractions.org) GPP 8.3.1 We recommend starting ART in HIV-positive patients with

KS. 1A   We recommend starting ART in HIV-positive patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). 1B   We suggest starting ART in HIV-positive patients with cervical cancer. 1C   We recommend starting ART in HIV-positive patients who are commencing radiotherapy or chemotherapy for cervical cancer. 1D 8.3.2 We suggest starting ART in HIV-positive patients with non-AIDS-defining malignancies (NADMs). 2C   We recommend starting ART in HIV-positive Selleck I-BET-762 patients who are commencing immunosuppressive radiotherapy or chemotherapy for NADMs. 1C 8.3.3 We recommend that potential pharmacokinetic interactions between ARVs and systemic anticancer therapy be checked before administration (with tools such as: http://www.hiv-druginteractions.org). GPP   We suggest avoiding ritonavir-boosted ART in HIV-positive click here patients who are to receive cytotoxic chemotherapy agents that are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzyme system. 2C   We recommend against the use of ATV in HIV-positive patients who are to receive irinotecan. 1C   We suggest avoiding ARV agents in HIV-positive patients who are to receive cytotoxic chemotherapy agents that have overlapping toxicities. 2C 8.4.2 We recommend patients with symptomatic HIV-associated NC disorders start ART irrespective

of CD4 lymphocyte count. 1C 8.4.3 We recommend patients with HIV-associated NC disorders start standard combination ART regimens. 1C 8.4.4 In patients with ongoing or worsening NC impairment despite ART we

recommend the following best practice management: GPP • Reassessment for confounding conditions. • Assessment of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) HIV RNA, CSF HIV genotropism and genotyping of CSF HIV RNA. • In subjects with detectable CSF HIV RNA, modifications SPTLC1 to ART should be based on plasma and CSF genotypic and genotropism results. 8.5.1 We recommend patients with HIVAN start ART immediately irrespective of CD4 cell count. 1C   We recommend patients with end-stage kidney disease who are suitable candidates for renal transplantation start ART irrespective of CD4 cell count. 1C 8.5.2 We recommend against the use of ARV drugs that are potentially nephrotoxic, in patients with stages 3–5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) if acceptable alternative ARV agents are available. GPP   We recommend dose adjustment of renally cleared ARV drugs in patients with reduced renal function. GPP 8.6.4 We suggest avoiding: ABC, FPV/r and LPV/r in patients with a high cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, if acceptable alternative ARV drugs are available. 2C 8.7.2 We recommend therapy-naïve HIV-positive women who are not pregnant start ART according to the same indicators as in men (see Section 4: When to Start) 1A 8.7.

hep-druginteractionsorg) GPP 831 We recommend starting ART in

hep-druginteractions.org) GPP 8.3.1 We recommend starting ART in HIV-positive patients with

KS. 1A   We recommend starting ART in HIV-positive patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). 1B   We suggest starting ART in HIV-positive patients with cervical cancer. 1C   We recommend starting ART in HIV-positive patients who are commencing radiotherapy or chemotherapy for cervical cancer. 1D 8.3.2 We suggest starting ART in HIV-positive patients with non-AIDS-defining malignancies (NADMs). 2C   We recommend starting ART in HIV-positive BMS-354825 patients who are commencing immunosuppressive radiotherapy or chemotherapy for NADMs. 1C 8.3.3 We recommend that potential pharmacokinetic interactions between ARVs and systemic anticancer therapy be checked before administration (with tools such as: http://www.hiv-druginteractions.org). GPP   We suggest avoiding ritonavir-boosted ART in HIV-positive CHIR-99021 patients who are to receive cytotoxic chemotherapy agents that are metabolized by the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) enzyme system. 2C   We recommend against the use of ATV in HIV-positive patients who are to receive irinotecan. 1C   We suggest avoiding ARV agents in HIV-positive patients who are to receive cytotoxic chemotherapy agents that have overlapping toxicities. 2C 8.4.2 We recommend patients with symptomatic HIV-associated NC disorders start ART irrespective

of CD4 lymphocyte count. 1C 8.4.3 We recommend patients with HIV-associated NC disorders start standard combination ART regimens. 1C 8.4.4 In patients with ongoing or worsening NC impairment despite ART we

recommend the following best practice management: GPP • Reassessment for confounding conditions. • Assessment of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) HIV RNA, CSF HIV genotropism and genotyping of CSF HIV RNA. • In subjects with detectable CSF HIV RNA, modifications enough to ART should be based on plasma and CSF genotypic and genotropism results. 8.5.1 We recommend patients with HIVAN start ART immediately irrespective of CD4 cell count. 1C   We recommend patients with end-stage kidney disease who are suitable candidates for renal transplantation start ART irrespective of CD4 cell count. 1C 8.5.2 We recommend against the use of ARV drugs that are potentially nephrotoxic, in patients with stages 3–5 chronic kidney disease (CKD) if acceptable alternative ARV agents are available. GPP   We recommend dose adjustment of renally cleared ARV drugs in patients with reduced renal function. GPP 8.6.4 We suggest avoiding: ABC, FPV/r and LPV/r in patients with a high cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, if acceptable alternative ARV drugs are available. 2C 8.7.2 We recommend therapy-naïve HIV-positive women who are not pregnant start ART according to the same indicators as in men (see Section 4: When to Start) 1A 8.7.

We observed similar events in the rd10 mouse retina where there w

We observed similar events in the rd10 mouse retina where there was an increased survival response prior to retinal cell death mediated through Verteporfin an increase in both phospho-PP2A and phospho-Gsk. Together, these results demonstrate that when retinal cells are stressed there is an initial struggle to survive, mediated through inhibition of PP2A and subsequent upregulation of survival pathways, and that these events

occur simultaneously with production of reactive oxygen species, thus suggesting an important cell-signalling role for reactive oxygen species. “
“Mutations in the human PTEN-induced kinase 1 (PINK1) gene are linked to recessive familial Parkinson’s disease. Animal models of altered PINK1 function vary greatly in their phenotypic characteristics. Drosophila pink1 mutants exhibit mild dopaminergic neuron degeneration and locomotion defects. Such defects are not observed in mice with Obeticholic Acid order targeted null mutations in pink1, although these mice exhibit impaired dopamine release and synaptic plasticity. Here, we report that in zebrafish,

morpholino-mediated knockdown of pink1 function did not cause large alterations in the number of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral diencephalon. However, the patterning of these neurons and their projections are perturbed. This is accompanied by locomotor dysfunction, notably impaired response to tactile stimuli and reduced swimming behaviour. All these defects can be rescued by expression of an exogenous pink1 that is not a target of the morpholinos used. These results

Palbociclib concentration indicate that normal PINK1 function during development is necessary for the proper positioning of populations of dopaminergic neurons and for the establishment of neuronal circuits in which they are implicated. “
“Neuronal postsynaptic currents consume most of the brain’s energy supply. Delineating how neurons control the distribution, morphology and function of the energy-producing mitochondria that fuel synaptic communication is therefore important for our understanding of nervous system function and pathology. Here we review recent insights into the molecular mechanisms that control activity-dependent regulation of mitochondrial trafficking, morphology and activity at excitatory synapses. We also consider some implications of this regulation for synaptic function and plasticity and discuss how this may contribute to synaptic dysfunction and signalling in neurological disease, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease. “
“The aim of this study was to determine whether retinal progenitor layer transplants form synaptic connections with the host and restore vision. Donor retinal sheets, isolated from embryonic day 19 rat fetuses expressing human placental alkaline phosphatase (hPAP), were transplanted to the subretinal space of 18 S334ter-3 rats with fast retinal degeneration at the age of 0.8–1.

Swallow & Jiang (2011) delineated several hypotheses to explain t

Swallow & Jiang (2011) delineated several hypotheses to explain the attentional boost

effect. The first is attentional cueing, which is based on an orienting response to the target leading to a concurrently enhanced processing of the background scene. Attentional cueing may occur concurrently with perceptual learning when target and scene are assembled into a single object (Driver & Baylis, 1989). Based on our findings, however, a simple attentional cueing does not sufficiently explain attentional boost because we did not find any connection with alerting and orienting of visual attention. In a similar paradigm to that used in the present study, click here Leclercq & Seitz (2012) found poor memorization for scenes that were preceded by an auditory alerting cue. However, for target-paired scenes, memory was enhanced when an alerting cue preceded the target, but only when the cue was available only on a subset of trials

(Leclercq & Seitz, 2012). Another possibility Cyclopamine cell line is that the target elicits a reward/salience signal because the proper identification and recall of the target letter was the main purpose of the task, and therefore it was indirectly reinforced in the experimental conditions (Seitz & Watanabe, 2009; Swallow & Jiang, 2011; but see also Tosoni et al., 2013). In the present study, we used a direct reward. This reward might ‘widen the window of attention’ facilitating the encoding of the background scene. The hippocampal formation may play a pivotal role in this encoding process because individuals with hippocampal atrophy had weak attentional boost (Szamosi et al., 2013). Shohamy & Wagner (2008) showed that the interaction between midbrain dopaminergic centers (ventral tegmental area/substantia DOK2 nigra) and the hippocampal formation

is essential for associative encoding (see also Wimmer et al., 2012). There is evidence that in the hippocampus dopaminergic modulation of attention is important in the selection of relevant and salient information (Muzzio et al., 2009). We propose that similar mechanisms may be implicated in attentional boost, which is intact in early-stage PD when dopaminergic loss is not pronounced in the midbrain-hippocampal system (Foerde et al., 2013). If dopaminergic medications are used in this stage of the disease, patients will demonstrate enhanced attentional boost outperforming healthy unmedicated individuals. An intriguing finding was that patients with PD receiving dopaminergic medications displayed enhanced attentional boost not only in the case of rewarded targets, but also in the case of distractors. In other words, they might encode scenes not only at behaviorally rewarded points of time, but also at behaviorally inhibited occasions when central stimuli (distractors) had to be ignored. In contrast, at behaviorally neutral points (scenes alone), there were no such effects.

[8] Patients on biologic DMARDs, including anti-TNF (tumor necros

[8] Patients on biologic DMARDs, including anti-TNF (tumor necrosis factor), anti-interleukin-6 and rituximab account for 29% of all our RA patients; however, comparing group of patients, biologics were used in 65.2% in Qatari,15.3% in Asian, 25% in African and 50% in Caucasian patients. Biologics were used more in Qataris because it

is free of charge but other nationalities still only pay 20%. In the USA 40% of RA patients are on biologics[8, GKT137831 cell line 9] but in UAE only 5% are on biologic therapy.[6] Anti-TNF drugs have been proven to be more effective in combination with methotrexate in inducing remission and preventing radiological progression. We found from our study the remission rate is better than reported in other Gulf countries which may be related to more use of anti-TNF in Qatar but is still lower when compared to USA and European studies.[8, 9] Almost one-third of our RA patients are not well controlled. Some of these uncontrolled patients may have co-morbid conditions which limit the use of synthetic and biologic therapies and other patients may have joint damage due AZD2281 in vivo to long-standing diseases and their diseases were acquired in the pre-biologics era. A limitation of our study is that the sample size was small because the population

of Qatar is small and most of our patients were expatriates; moreover, we did not include extra-articular manifestations in our study. More effort is needed to improve the management provided to our RA patients to tighten the control of their disease. “
“Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of a variety of autoimmune diseases. TNF-α inhibitors have been shown to offer clinical benefits in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, PLEKHM2 including rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and Crohn’s disease. Occasionally, these agents have been associated with infectious complications

because of their immunosuppressive activity. Globally, several cases of infections associated with TNF-α inhibitors have been reported. However, Aspergillus infection associated with etanercept is very rare. We report a case of chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis in a 51-year-old man with AS that developed after treatment with etanercept. “
“The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of structural shoulder pathology using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in three groups of older people: those with current shoulder pain, those with a previous history of shoulder pain and those with no history of shoulder pain, within a community-based sample. Thirty subjects (10 within each of the three groups) participated in the study. Subjects were recruited by telephone and underwent a clinical examination of shoulder and neck range of movement (to ensure pain was not referred from the neck).

Antibiotics were used as follows: erythromycin (1 μg mL−1), chlor

Antibiotics were used as follows: erythromycin (1 μg mL−1), chloramphenicol (10 μg mL−1), and streptomycin (200 μg mL−1). Overnight cultures grown in brain heart infusion broth (BHI) were added at a 1 : 250 (v/v) dilution to fresh BHI and incubated at 37 °C with CDK phosphorylation aeration. CFU mL−1 were determined

by plating dilutions of culture aliquots on BHI agar. Competitive indices of mixed bacterial cultures during stationary phase were performed as previously described (Zambrano et al., 1993; Finkel et al., 2000; Bruno & Freitag, 2010) (Fig. 1a). Aliquots of 12-day-old cultures were stored at −80 °C. For each experiment, an aliquot of frozen cells was thawed and 50 μL was added to 12.5 mL of BHI and grown overnight at 37 °C. One hundred and twenty-five microliters of the overnight 12-day-old culture was added to 12.5 mL of a 1-day-old culture at a ratio of 1 : 100 and incubated at 37 °C for 10 days. Twelve-day-old and 1-day-old cultures were distinguished based on chloramphenicol

resistance of the 1-day-old cultures containing the site-specific integration vector pPL2 that conferred chloramphenicol resistance without influencing bacterial growth (Lauer et al., 2002). SB203580 in vivo Every 24 h, an aliquot of the mixed culture was removed, diluted, and plated onto BHI agar to enumerate bacterial CFUs. One hundred and fifty of the resulting colonies were then patched onto BHI agar containing chloramphenicol, selecting for the original 1-day-old chloramphenicol resistant bacteria; this was found to be the most reliable method for clearly distinguishing drug-resistant colonies. The competitive index (CI) value was determined as follows: CI = (test strain CFU)/(reference strain CFU). Mid-log L. monocytogenes were washed and diluted in PBS to a final concentration of 1 × 105 CFU mL−1. Seven- to 8-week-old ND4 Swiss Webster mice (Harlan Laboratories, Inc., Madison, WI) were Pregnenolone infected via tail vein with

2 × 104 CFU. Forty-eight hours post infection homogenized tissue dilutions were plated on BHI agar to determine CFU per organ. For CI experiments, mice were infected via tail vein with a 1 : 1 mixture of a reference and test strains. The reference strain was DP-L3903, a wild type strain with a Tn917-LTV3 insertion that confers erythromycin resistance and has been confirmed to have no effect on L. monocytogenes virulence [(Auerbuch et al., 2001) and Fig. 5b]. Strains were grown to mid-log phase and mixed together in PBS. Two hundred microliters of 2 × 104 CFU mixed bacterial suspension were used for infection. After 48 h, livers and spleens were harvested and homogenized. The CI value for each organ was determined as previously described (Auerbuch et al., 2001). Statistical analysis was performed using Prism software (graphpad v.2.0). Where appropriate, a Student’s t-test was used to identify statistically significant differences. In all cases, a P-value <0.05 was considered significant.

1) This genus is well-known to produce a wide variety of biologi

1). This genus is well-known to produce a wide variety of biologically active secondary metabolites (Kalinovskaya,

2004; Bowman, 2007). Within this genus, the strains Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis INH, Pseudoalteromonas sp. X153 and Pseudoalteromonas sp. D41 were shown to protect or enhance the survival rate of Agropecten purpuratus, P. maximus and C. gigas, respectively (Riquelme et al., 1997; Longeon et al., 2004; Kesarcodi-Watson et al., 2012). Some of the haemolymphatic strains are within lineages that are phylogenetically distinct from known probiotic strains and may have unique probiotic properties (e.g. secondary metabolites). As no antibacterial activities have ever selleckchem been described in species closely related to the isolated strains, we postulate that the antibacterial compounds produced by these strains have not been described to date. Nonetheless, the hPm-26 bacterial strain isolated from P. maximus haemolymph was affiliated within the genus Thalassomonas. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing antibacterial activity from the recent

genus Thalassomonas. Due to their potent antibacterial activities, three strains of Pseudoalteromonas CT99021 purchase were investigated for their impact on oyster hemocyte survival in vitro. Our goal was to control the safety of hCg strains toward hemocytes. Indeed, although the bivalves collected were healthy, there was no guarantee that a high concentration of the bacteria would not result in hemocyte death. Hemocytes were incubated with up to 5 × 108 CFU mL−1 for 19 h. Recently isolated Pseudoalteromonas strains hCg-6 and hCg-42 from oyster haemolymph were also analyzed. These strains produced antimicrobial peptide in haemolymph in an in vitro assay (Defer et al., 2013). Hemocyte/bacteria mixes did not exhibit any morphological changes, whatever

the ratio used and the strain assayed, when examined using flow cytometry (Supporting Information, Fig S1). After 3 h, hemocyte mortality in sterile seawater was quantified at 5.2% (± 0.7) (data not shown). A study on Crassostrea virginica hemocyte viability showed that around 3–5% of hemocytes died when incubated in sterile seawater (Allam & Ford, 2006). The hemocyte FAD death observed herein (15% after 19 h incubation in seawater) is in agreement with the short lifespan of bivalve hemocytes described previously (Binelli et al., 2009). Moreover, after a 19-h-long incubation of hemocyte in the presence of hCg strains, flow cytometry analyses revealed that (1) no additional hemocyte mortality was detected with strains hCg-6 and hCg-42, suggesting that these strains have no opportunistic behaviour, whatever the hemocyte/bacteria ratio used; and (2) a significant reduction of hemocyte mortality with strains hCg- 23, -51 and -108 (Table 4). Interestingly, hemocyte mortality was significantly decreased in the presence of strain hCg-51 in a concentration-dependent manner.

International travelers were at risk of acquiring influenza A(H1N

International travelers were at risk of acquiring influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 (H1N1pdm09) virus infection during travel to affected areas and importing http://www.selleckchem.com/products/AZD6244.html the virus to their home or other countries.[1, 2] For example, a positive correlation was found between the volume of airline travelers

departing from Mexico and confirmed H1N1pdm09 imported cases identified in various countries during the early stage of the 2009 influenza pandemic.[3, 4] We investigated more broadly whether travelers can function as sentinels for sustained transmission in an affected country and could complement traditional surveillance systems and aid public health planning for targeted surveillance, interventions, and quarantine protocols at international borders. We describe the profile of travelers who carried H1N1pdm09 virus across international borders throughout the world and explore Venetoclax in vitro the relationship between detection of H1N1pdm09 in travelers and the level of H1N1pdm09 transmission in the exposure country[5] during the first phase of the H1N1pdm09 pandemic. The 49 GeoSentinel sites in six continents contributing data are specialized travel and tropical medicine clinics that systematically provide clinical information on all ill returning travelers, as described elsewhere (www.geosentinel.org).[6] Intake at the sites reflects a mixed population of patients requiring

tertiary care and self-referred patients. Some sites are restricted to outpatient care, and at no Thiamine-diphosphate kinase site is practice limited to the care of ill travelers. The GeoSentinel data-collection protocol was reviewed by the institutional review board officer at the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases

at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and classified as public health surveillance and not as human-subjects research requiring submission to institutional review boards. Cases were defined as travelers with confirmed or probable diagnoses of H1N1pdm09 reported to GeoSentinel from April 1, 2009, through October 24, 2009, when H1N1pdm09 virus transmission was well established worldwide.[7] Confirmed H1N1pdm09 cases required positive results by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). At GeoSentinel sites, testing uses the best national reference laboratories in the site country. In the context of the 2009 pandemic, testing was done by public health authorities in all countries. Probable cases were defined as those with positive rapid tests for influenza A in acquisition countries where the predominant circulating strain was H1N1pdm09 or those with acute respiratory illness with an epidemiologic link to an rRT-PCR-confirmed H1N1pdm09 case. Two separate groups of travelers who carried the infection across an international border are described.

Greater buy-in to these services by GPs could persuade more patie

Greater buy-in to these services by GPs could persuade more patients to participate, and further

work is required to explore patient perceptions of these schemes as well as reasons why more patients are not recruited to NMS or MURs. 1. Sexton J, Ho, YJ, Green, CF and Caldwell, NA. Ensuring seamless care at hospital discharge: A national survey. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 2000; 25: 385–393 R. Millera,b, C. Darcya, A. Friela, M. Scottc, S. Tonerc aWestern Health and Social Care Trust, Derry, Northern Ireland, UK, bUniversity of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK, cNorthern Health and Social Care Trust, Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK The project objective was to implement and evaluate consultant pharmacist (CP) case management of older people within intermediate care (IC) and back out into primary care. Over a 12-month period 453 patients were Selleck OSI-744 case managed. Data on clinical interventions, medication appropriateness, drug costs and patient outcomes were collected and evaluated. CP case management for older people in IC demonstrated a cost- effective Ixazomib patient-centred model of pharmaceutical care which could be replicated in similar settings. In December 2011, the Compton Review ‘Transforming

Your Care’ outlined the remodelling of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (HSCNI), specifically recommending better integration of hospital and community services for older people. The consultant pharmacist is an integral part of the health care model addressing the complex medicines management needs of the frail elderly. The objective of this project was to develop, implement and robustly evaluate a CP led however case management pharmaceutical

care service for older patients admitted to intermediate care and continued back into the community setting. Prior to project initiation (May 2012), a multidisciplinary process mapping event was held informing development of the new patient care pathway where the CP case managed patients (≥ 65 years) throughout their stay in IC and for at least 30 days post-discharge. The trust research governance committee decided this project was service improvement and evaluation not requiring governance or ethical approvals. On admission to the IC hospital, the CP reviewed appropriateness of drugs prescribed using the Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI). Patient-specific pharmaceutical care plans were implemented with clinical interventions being recorded and graded according to Eadon criteria.1 Costs savings as a result of these interventions which prevent medication errors/Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) have been estimated by the University of Sheffield School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR)2; these figures were applied. Drugs stopped/started by the CP were costed using the NHS dictionary of medicines and devices (DM&D).

Greater buy-in to these services by GPs could persuade more patie

Greater buy-in to these services by GPs could persuade more patients to participate, and further

work is required to explore patient perceptions of these schemes as well as reasons why more patients are not recruited to NMS or MURs. 1. Sexton J, Ho, YJ, Green, CF and Caldwell, NA. Ensuring seamless care at hospital discharge: A national survey. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 2000; 25: 385–393 R. Millera,b, C. Darcya, A. Friela, M. Scottc, S. Tonerc aWestern Health and Social Care Trust, Derry, Northern Ireland, UK, bUniversity of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, UK, cNorthern Health and Social Care Trust, Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK The project objective was to implement and evaluate consultant pharmacist (CP) case management of older people within intermediate care (IC) and back out into primary care. Over a 12-month period 453 patients were Vemurafenib mouse case managed. Data on clinical interventions, medication appropriateness, drug costs and patient outcomes were collected and evaluated. CP case management for older people in IC demonstrated a cost- effective this website patient-centred model of pharmaceutical care which could be replicated in similar settings. In December 2011, the Compton Review ‘Transforming

Your Care’ outlined the remodelling of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland (HSCNI), specifically recommending better integration of hospital and community services for older people. The consultant pharmacist is an integral part of the health care model addressing the complex medicines management needs of the frail elderly. The objective of this project was to develop, implement and robustly evaluate a CP led 4��8C case management pharmaceutical

care service for older patients admitted to intermediate care and continued back into the community setting. Prior to project initiation (May 2012), a multidisciplinary process mapping event was held informing development of the new patient care pathway where the CP case managed patients (≥ 65 years) throughout their stay in IC and for at least 30 days post-discharge. The trust research governance committee decided this project was service improvement and evaluation not requiring governance or ethical approvals. On admission to the IC hospital, the CP reviewed appropriateness of drugs prescribed using the Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI). Patient-specific pharmaceutical care plans were implemented with clinical interventions being recorded and graded according to Eadon criteria.1 Costs savings as a result of these interventions which prevent medication errors/Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) have been estimated by the University of Sheffield School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR)2; these figures were applied. Drugs stopped/started by the CP were costed using the NHS dictionary of medicines and devices (DM&D).