The youngest and the oldest patients who arrive at emergency departments (EDs) are unlikely to receive a narcotic analgesic for a broken clavicle, according to a retrospective analysis of 7,199 ED visits over nine years from Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey.
Overall, opiate prescriptions were issued to few patients—and only 18% of patients from birth to three years of age and 25% of patients 70 years of age and older received them. By contrast, 36% to 40% of patients from nine to 69 years of age received prescriptions.

The FDA has announced that the prescribing information for haloperidol (Haldol, generic versions) has been revised to include a new cardiovascular subsection in the Warnings section.
Important revisions have been made to the Contraindications, Warnings, and Dosage and Administration sections of the full prescribing information for ceftriaxone (Rocephin, Roche).
A patient’s age isn’t necessarily a good reason to not try a sirolimus-eluting stent, according to a German study of 6,755 patients.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly 19,000 people died in the U.S. in 2005 after being infected a virulent drug resistant bacterium, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The number of deaths associated with MRSA exceeds those attributed to AIDS,
The FDA has granted marketing approval of Genzyme’s sevelamer carbonate (Renvela) for the control of serum phosphorus in patients with chronic 