Introduction During the COVID-19 pandemic, measures have been put in place to adapt to patients' needs during home quarantine, such as "telehealthcare". With this service, hospital pharmacists develop a distinct role via the implementation of pharmacovigilance services and pharmaceutical care plans for patients with comorbidities, and for special populations as immunosuppressed patients. Methods Cross-sectional study involving hospital and community pharmacists actively practising during the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients who could not come to the hospital pharmacy department were provided with a delivery service to the community pharmacy of their choice. Results A total of 1186 patients requested this service. Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents were the most indemand medication, followed by rheumatoid arthritis and antiretroviral drugs. 125 patients responded to the telephone survey, most of whom stated that they would use the delivery service again, and expressed their desire to continue doing so. Discussion Without a doubt, telepharmacy and medication delivery services have provided multiple benefits during home quarantine. The delivery service enabled us to provide drugs to patients in their immediate environment through a service that was free for both the patient and the hospital pharmacy service. However, at present, the available evidence of the impact of telepharmacy models is sparse. Conclusions This medication delivery service has provided multiple benefits to patients during home quarantine. Although the users of this service seem to be satisfied with the current model, in the future, we should consider which patients would benefit most from this service and shape it to individual needs.
Introduction Pembrolizumab is a monoclonal antibody approved for adult patients with advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Although immune related adverse events are considered to be well tolerated, complications may occur and discontinuation of the treatment could be required. Case report A 62-year old patient diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer experienced a decline in the renal function after seven cycles with pembrolizumab. Management & outcome: After ruling out other common causes of interstitial nephritis, pembrolizumab was attributed as a cause of interstitial nephritis. At first, toxicity was managed with corticosteroids and closely monitoring the patient, but finally pembrolizumab had to be discontinued due to the kidney function did not recover. Discussion Renal and urinary disorders were reported in <3% of patients treated with pembrolizumab, being interstitial nephritis the most reported toxicity. The kidney damage can be a complication to consider in patients receiving pembrolizumab. Early identification of an increase in serum creatinine levels may help with prevention by establishing an effective treatment, although it may not mean a total recovery of kidney function.
In 1992, 19 ADRs were notified, a value that progressively increased over the years, reaching its highest in 2003 (84 ADRs). In 2004 it decreased to 46, remained constant (mean 35.7±9.7) and then declined to 31 in the last year. Conclusion and relevance More than one-third of ADRs were serious, but most patients recovered without sequelae. Most notifications to the RPC come from the MDS-H, but a significant number were detected by health staff and HP. In recent years, reported ADRs has decreased, so the HP could be an essential element to develop the pharmacovigilance programme, which is key to improving the safety of medicines by promoting relevant modifications in the technical data sheets and issuing alerts from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products.
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