The March update to the AHFS Patient Medication Information (PMI) database has been published. Highlights of the update include:

New PMI Monographs

• Hydrocortisone Rectal (Anusol HC^®, Colocort^®, Cortenema^®, Preparation H Anti-Itch^®, Proctocort^®, Proctofoam HC^®)
  • Rectal hydrocortisone is used along with other medications to treat proctitis (swelling in the rectum) and ulcerative colitis (a condition which causes swelling and sores in the lining of the large intestine and rectum).
• Lixisenatide Injection (Adlyxin^®)
  • Lixisenatide injection is used along with diet and exercise to treat type 2 diabetes.
• Cromolyn Ophthalmic (Crolom^®)
  • Cromolyn ophthalmic is used to treat the symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis (a condition in which the eyes become itchy, swollen, red, and teary when they are exposed to certain substances) and keratitis (a condition that causes swelling of the cornea [tissue in the front of the eye] that causes eye redness, pain, and tearing and changes in vision).
• Bezlotoxumab Injection (Zinplava^®)
  • Bezlotoxumab injection is used to decrease the risk of Clostridium difficile infection (a type of bacteria that can cause severe or life-threatening diarrhea) from coming back in people at high risk for C. difficile infection.

FDA MedWatch Alert Revisions

FDA is warning that eluxadoline (Viberzi^®), a medicine used to treat irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D), should not be used in patients who do not have a gallbladder.

The August update to the AHFS Patient Medication Information (PMI) database has been published. Highlights of the update include:

New PMI Monographs:

• Obeticholic Acid (Ocaliva^®)
  • Obeticholic acid is used alone or in combination with ursodiol (Actigall, Urso) to treat primary biliary cholangitis (PBC; a type of liver disease that destroys bile ducts, which allows bile to stay in the liver and cause damage) in patients who cannot take ursodiol or in patients who were not treated successfully with ursodiol alone.
• Sofosbuvir and Velpatasvir (Epclusa^®)
  • The combination of sofosbuvir and velpatasvir is used alone or with ribavirin (Copegus, Rebetol, Ribasphere) to treat chronic hepatitis C (an ongoing viral infection that damages the liver).
• Atezolizumab Injection (Tecentriq^®)
  • Atezolizumab injection is used to treat urothelial cancer (cancer of the lining of the bladder and other parts of the urinary tract) that has spread and cannot be removed by surgery, and has worsened after treatment with other chemotherapy medications.
• Daclizumab Injection (Zinbryta^®)
  • Daclizumab is used to prevent episodes of symptoms and slow the worsening of disability in people who have relapsing-remitting forms (course of disease where symptoms flare up from time to time) of multiple sclerosis (MS ; a disease in which the nerves do not function properly and people may experience weakness, numbness, loss of muscle coordination, and problems with vision, speech, and bladder control).

FDA MedWatch Alerts – Monograph Revisions

• No MedWatch Alerts this month