Eculizumab (Soliris - Alexion) has been approved by the FDA for reduction of hemolysis in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare form of hemolytic anemia. A recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody, eculizumab is the first drug to be marketed for this indication.

Direct-to-consumer advertisements are urging women to be tested for mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which are the most common known causes of an inherited predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. Clinically important BRCA mutations have been found in about 2% of Ashkenazi Jewish women, and are estimated to occur in about 1 in 300 to 500 women in the general non-Jewish US population. The prevalence appears to be lower in non-whites.

The American Heart Association has issued its revised guidelines for prevention of infective endocarditis. Antimicrobial prophylaxis for dental procedures is now recommended only for patients at the highest risk of severe consequences from endocarditis who are undergoing the highest-risk procedures. Endocarditis prophylaxis is no longer recommended for gastrointestinal (GI) and genitourinary (GU) procedures. When these changes are implemented, the number of patients receiving antimicrobial prophylaxis to prevent endocarditis should decline sharply.

Now that US Secretary of Defense has decided to vaccinate more than 2 million memebers of the US armed forces against anthrax, US physicians may be asked to answer some questions about the vaccine and the disease.

In the CLINICAL STUDIES - Other Cancers paragraph (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2007; 49:35), the dosage in the first line should be 2.5 mg/kg, not 25 mg/kg.

(Med Lett Drugs Ther 2008; 50:94) In table 1, "Invasive" should be "less" and "more" rather than "no" and "yes" for CT colonography and colonoscopy, respectively.

A reader expressed concern that a statement in our article Naloxone (Narcan) Nasal Spray for Opioid Overdose (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2016; 58:1) might be misleading. We stated that heroin has a half-life of 2-6 minutes, which is correct, but heroin is a prodrug that is rapidly metabolized to 6-acetylmorphine and morphine. The risk of respiratory depression is related to those active metabolites, and it may persist well beyond the clearance of heroin from the blood.

The FDA has approved over-the-counter (OTC) sales of Plan B (Duramed), an emergency contraceptive package that contains two 0.75-mg tablets of levonorgestrel, to women ≥18 years old. Younger women still require a prescription. In one trial, two levonorgestrel 0.75-mg tablets taken 12 hours apart, the first within 72 hours after unprotected intercourse, decreased the pregnancy rate to 1%, compared to an expected rate of 8% (Task Force on Postovulatory Methods of Fertility Regulation, Lancet 1998; 352:428). How high doses of a progestin taken after coitus prevent pregnancy is unclear; they may...

On page 100 of the article "Major Changes in Endocarditis Prophylaxis for Dental, GI and GU Procedures", under the section Highest-Risk Procedures, the word "rubber" should have been omitted. Placement of orthodontic rubber bands is not a highest-risk procedure that justifies prophylaxis; placement of orthodontic (metal) bands is. An orthodontic band is a metal ring that surrounds the tooth and is pressed into place causing movement in closely-spaced teeth and sometimes bleeding when the bands are placed close to the gumline.

Recent reports (D Kaye.Clin Infect Dis April 1, 2008;46:iii) indicate that 2 of the 3 components of this year's influenza vaccine (Med Lett Drugs Ther 2007;49:81), the influenza B and A/H3N2 antigens, do not matchup well with circulating strains. The B component is probably not protective. The A/H3N2 antigen in the vaccine probably provides some protection, particularly for high-risk patients. The third component, the A/H1N1 antigen, is protective against circulating A/H1N1 influenza viruses, but these viruses, unlike previous A/H1N1 strains, are developing some resistance to oseltamivir...