Category Archives: Medication Safety Issues

A New 21st Century Weapon of Mass Destruction

Posted on September 18, 2019 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Before the 2000’s, the world feared WMD (weapons of mass destruction) that involved nuclear technology. The threat of nuclear war, whether accidental or intentional, shaped how the military, our diplomates and alliance nations acted to protect its people and to … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, Affordable Prescription Drugs, Biological Weapons, Bioterrorism, Blog Writers, Blogging, Chemotherapy Supply Shortage Issues, Chinese Drug Industry, Chinese Prescription Drug Exports, Controlling Drug Costs, Developing Story Arcs, Developing Story Plots, Developing Storyline Ideas, Drug Distribution Chain, Drug Shortages in the US, Drugs and Terrorism, FDA and Drug Supply Shortages, Generic Drug Manufacturing, Generic Drug Safety, Generic Drugs in the US, Increasing Costs of US Pharmaceuticals, International Supply of Drugs, James J. Murray Blog, Made In America, Medication Cost Increases, Medication Safety Issues, Medication Shortages in the US, Modern Weapons of Mass Destruction, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, New Blog, Pharmaceutical Shortages in the US, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drug Safety, Prescription Drug Shortages, Prescription For Murder Blog, Prescription Trends, Shortages in the US Drug Distribution Chain, The American Drug Supply, The High Cost Of Medications in the US, The Price of Freedom, Trade War Instabilities, Trade Wars, Trade Wars and Pharmaceuticals, Where Are America's Prescription Drugs Made?, Where Are Our Drugs Made, WMD | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Drug Trade Balances

Posted on May 15, 2019 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

First off, this is not a blog about trade wars! I adhere to the philosophy of not blogging about religion, politics or sex—and today is no exception—but, with so much in the news about trade tariffs, my pharmaceutical mind went … Continue reading →

Posted in A New Novel By James J. Murray, A New Science Thriller Novel, About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, Blog Writers, Blogging, Designing Murder Plots, Developing Story Arcs, Developing Story Plots, Developing Storyline Ideas, Drug Distribution Chain, Drug Misadventures, Drugs For Murder Plots, Fiction Based on Facts, Fiction Based on Real Life, Future Drug Manufacturing Practices, Future of Drug Manufacturing, Generic Drug Manufacturing, Generic Drug Safety, Generic Drug Use, Generic Drugs, Imperfect Murder The Novel, Imperfect Murder Thriller Novel, James J. Murray Blog, James J. Murray's IMPERFECT MURDER Novel, James J. Murray's LETHAL MEDICINE Novel, Lethal Medicine Thriller Novel, Lethal Medicine-The Novel, Medication Safety Issues, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Murder With Drugs, New Blog, New Book Release, New International Thriller Release, New Methods of Murder, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Plot Development, Plot Ideas and Where They Come From, Plotting The Perfect Murder, Prescription Drug Safety, Prescription Fill Practices in the US and Canada, Prescription For Murder Blog, Prescription Trends, The Art of Writing, The Practice of Pharmacy, Trade Wars, Unique Murder Plots, Where Are America's Prescription Drugs Made? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Quantifying Pain Effectively

Posted on March 27, 2019 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

There are a multitude of methods to measure a patient’s pain level. Most use a sliding scale to quantify one’s pain from 0 (no pain) to 10 (the worse imaginable pain). Top ten types of pain scales: 1 – 10 … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, Alternative to Botanicals for Painkiller Drug Manufacturing, Alternatives to Opiate Painkillers, Blog Writers, Blogging, Controlling Drug Costs, Death From Prescription Painkillers, Drug Abuse, Effective Pain Control, Epidemic of Narcotic Overdoses, James J. Murray Blog, Medical Technology Advances, Medication Abuses, Medication Non-Compliance, Medication Safety Issues, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, New Blog, New Drug Research, New Research Technology, Non-Addictive Pain Treatments, Opiate Epidemic, Opioid Crisis, Opioid Crisis Management, Opioid Therapy Alternatives, Pain Biomarkers, Patient Therapy Outcomes, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drug Safety, Prescription Drugs Become Street Drugs, Prescription For Murder Blog, Prescription Narcotic Overdoses, Prescription Painkiller Overdose, Prescription Prescribing Practices, The Opioid Epidemic, The Pharmacy Profession, The Practice of Pharmacy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Gabapentin – The Next Drug of Abuse?

Posted on April 4, 2018 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Gabapentin was introduced in 1993 and marketed as the brand name Neurontin to control epileptic seizures as well as to help control nerve pain due to nerve damage. It is an ideal drug for nerve pain, first as a primary drug and … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, Alternatives to Opiate Painkillers, Blog Writers, Blogging, Creating Interesting Fiction Characters, Creating Unique and Interesting Character Flaws, Deciding What Types of Fictional Characters Fit Into Your Plot, Designer Street Drugs, Designing Murder Plots, Developing Story Arcs, Developing Story Plots, Developing Storyline Ideas, Drug Abuse, Drug Misadventures, Epidemic of Narcotic Overdoses, Fiction Based on Facts, Gabapentin, Gabapentin Abuse, Gabapentin as the Next Drug of Abuse, Gabbies, Ideas for Murder Scenes, Illegal Drug Trends, James J. Murray Blog, Medication Abuses, Medication Safety Issues, Misuse of Drugs, Morontin, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, Murder With Drugs, New Blog, New Drug Abuse Phenomenon, New Drugs of Abuse, New Street Drug Trends, Opiate Epidemic, Opioid Crisis, Opioid Therapy Alternatives, Party Drugs, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Plot Development, Prescription Drugs Become Street Drugs, Prescription For Murder Blog, Prescription Prescribing Practices, Prescription Trends, Street Drug Abuse Substances, Street Drugs, The Practice of Pharmacy, The Writings of James J. Murray | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

GRAPEFRUIT – The Killer Fruit!

Posted on January 10, 2018 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Occasionally, I hear news reports regarding the dangers of eating grapefruit while on certain medications. Recently, a relative of mine was prescribed a new medication and the prescription label indicated that eating grapefruit while taking the medication could be dangerous. … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, Blog Writers, Blogging, Deadly Food-Drug Interactions, Deadly Grapefruit, Food-Drug Interactions, Furanocoumarin, Furanocoumarin and Grapefruit, Grapefruit and Drugs, Grapefruit as a Public Health Issue, Grapefruit-Drug Interactions, How Grapefruit Kills, Medication Safety Issues, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, New Blog, New Drug Research, Pharmacist Errors, Prescription Drug Safety, Prescription For Murder Blog, Prescription Trends, The Practice of Pharmacy, Using Grapefruit to Kill | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Smart Pills Simplify Medication Compliance Issues

Posted on November 29, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

Experts estimate that patients who do not take their medications as ordered cost this nation approximately $100 billion a year in additional medical expenses. Much of that additional cost is due to patients getting sicker and needing additional treatments or … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, Advances in Medication Therapy Compliance, Blog Writers, Blogging, Controlling Drug Costs, Cost of Ignoring Doctor Orders, Cutting Edge Drug Therapy Research, Deaths Related to Therapy Non-Compliance, Developing Technologies, Digital Oral Medication Compliance, Digital Pill Technology, Drug Error Prevention, Drug Errors in The Elderly, Drug Misadventures, Economic Impact of Therapy Non-Compliance, Future Drug Manufacturing Practices, Future of Drug Manufacturing, Innovative Drug Manufacturing Practices, James J. Murray Blog, Making Medications Affordable, Medication Cost Increases, Medication Non-Compliance, Medication Safety Issues, Misuse of Drugs, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, New Blog, New Drug Discoveries, New Drug Manufacturing Methods, New Drug Research, New Research Technology, New Ways to Manufacture Painkillers, Non-Compliance in Medication Therapies, Non-Compliance to Physician Orders, Non-Compliance to Prescription Therapies, Non-Compliance with Medication Therapies, Patient Non-Compliance, Patient Therapy Compliance Issues, Patient Therapy Outcomes, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drug Safety, Prescription Fill Rates, Prescription Fill Statistics in the US, Prescription For Murder Blog, Prescription Prescribing Practices, Prescription Therapy Non-Compliance in the Elderly, Prescription Trends, Reasons for Medication Therapy Non-Compliance, The Pharmacy Profession, The Practice of Pharmacy, Types of Medication Non-Compliance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why Prescription Medications Are So Expensive

Posted on August 16, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

In last week’s blog, I discussed how patients can take back control of their medication costs. I suggested seven simple ways to reduce the costs of your prescription drugs. Taking steps as an individual to hold down prescription costs, however, … Continue reading →

Posted in About Medications/Pharmacy, Affordable Prescription Drugs, Blog Writers, Blogging, Controlling Drug Costs, Increasing Costs of US Pharmaceuticals, James J. Murray Blog, Making Medications Affordable, Medication Cost Increases, Medication Safety Issues, New Blog, New Drug Discoveries, New Drug Manufacturing Methods, New Drug Research, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drug Safety, Prescription For Murder Blog, Solutions To The High Cost of Drugs, The High Cost Of Medications in the US, The Pharmacy Profession, US Prescription Costs Per Capita | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How to Make Prescription Drugs More Affordable!

Posted on August 9, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

An estimated 49% of Americans report using at least one prescription drug in the last 30 days, and a staggering 19% report that they have skipped taking a prescribed medication, or taken less drug than indicated, because of the drug’s … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, About Medications/Pharmacy, Affordable Prescription Drugs, Blog Writers, Blogging, Controlling Drug Costs, Increasing Costs of US Pharmaceuticals, James J. Murray Blog, Making Medications Affordable, Medication Cost Increases, Medication Safety Issues, New Blog, Non-Compliance in Medication Therapies, Non-Compliance to Physician Orders, Non-Compliance to Prescription Therapies, Non-Compliance with Medication Therapies, Patient Therapy Compliance Issues, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Drug Safety, Prescription For Murder Blog, Reasons for Medication Therapy Non-Compliance, Solutions To The High Cost of Drugs, Te Practice of Pharmacy, The High Cost Of Medications in the US, The Pharmacy Profession, The Practice of Pharmacy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Preventing Prescription Medication Errors

Posted on July 19, 2017 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

In a medication error report that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published last Fall, it estimated that over a million US citizens are injured each year from various medication errors and that one person dies each day from a … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, Blog Writers, Blogging, Drug Error Prevention, Drug Misadventures, Generic Drug Safety, Generic vs Brand Name Drugs, James J. Murray Blog, Medication Safety Issues, New Blog, Pharmacist Errors, Pharmacy Dispensing Errors, Pharmacy/Pharmaceuticals, Prescription Errors, Prescription For Murder Blog, The Pharmacy Profession | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Smart Students Formulate Cheaper Generic Drug

Posted on December 7, 2016 by James J. Murray, Fiction Writer

The ever-increasing costs of prescription medications have made dramatic headlines over the last twelve months. One of the more recent and visibly-reported medication increases involved Epipen, the life-saving epinephrine drug used to counteract severe allergic reactions. That drug underwent a … Continue reading →

Posted in About James J. Murray, Alternative Drug Manufacturing Methods, Blog Writers, Blogging, Daraprim Price Increases, Future Drug Manufacturing Practices, Future of Drug Manufacturing, Future of Prescription Drug Distribution, Generic Drug Manufacturing, Generic Drugs in the US, Generic vs Brand Name Drugs, Increasing Costs of US Pharmaceuticals, Innovative Drug Manufacturing Practices, James J. Murray Blog, Medication Safety Issues, Medication Shortages in the US, Murder Mayhem and Medicine, New Blog, New Drug Manufacturing Methods, New Drug Research, Prescription Drug Safety, Prescription For Murder Blog, Prescription Trends, Synthesizing Inexpensive Generic Drugs, The American Drug Supply, The High Cost Of Medications in the US, Ways To Create More Cost-Effective Generic Drugs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments