Psoriatic arthritis is a chronic inflammatory arthropathy associated with psoriasis. A recent review found that about 20% of patients with psoriasis have psoriatic arthritis. Updated guidelines for treatment of psoriatic arthritis have recently been published.

Acesulfame potassium (Sunette - Hoechst), an oxathiazinondioxide, was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a non-caloric table-top sweetener and as an ingredient in chewing gum, powdered beverages, gelatins and puddings. The other non-caloric artificial sweeteners available in the USA are saccharin (Sweet 'N Low; and others) and aspartame (NutraSweet; Equal) (Medical Letter, 24:1, 1982).

Gamma hydroxy butyrate (GHB) sold in health food stores has recently caused outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness, central-nervous-system (CNS) depression, and seizures.

Three low-dose transdermal estrogens were recently approved by the FDA for treatment of menopausal vasomotor symptoms. Elestrin and Divigel are transdermal estradiol gels and Evamist is an estradiol spray. Elestrin has been marketed in Europe since 1976.

Lefamulin (Xenleta – Nabriva), a semisynthetic pleuromutilin antibiotic, has been approved by the FDA for IV and oral treatment of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP) in adults. It is the first systemic pleuromutilin antibiotic to be approved in the US; retapamulin (Altabax), a 1% topical ointment for treatment of impetigo, was approved in 2007.

Antiretroviral therapy is recommended for all HIV-infected patients, both to reduce the risk of disease progression and to prevent transmission of the virus to others. Various guidelines for treatment of HIV infection are available.

Desflurane (Suprane - Anaquest), an inhalation anesthetic, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia in adults and for maintenance of anesthesia in infants and children. Like isoflurane (Forane), the last volatile anesthetic to become available in the USA (Medical Letter, 23:112, 1981), the new agent is a halogenated methyl ethyl ether, differing from isoflurane in the substitution of a fluorine for a chlorine atom.

The package inserts of the GLP-1 receptor agonists dulaglutide (Trulicity), exenatide (Byetta, Bydureon BCise), liraglutide (Saxenda, Victoza), and semaglutide (Ozempic, Rybelsus, Wegovy) and the dual glucosedependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP)/GLP-1 receptor agonist tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) have been updated to include rare postmarketing reports of pulmonary aspiration associated with their use in patients undergoing elective surgery or other procedures requiring general anesthesia or deep sedation who had residual gastric contents despite preoperative...

Levodopa combined with carbidopa (Sinemet) is the treatment of choice for Parkinson's disease (Medical Letter, 30:113, 1988). After prolonged treatment, however, the symptoms of the disease often become difficult to manage. The benefit from each dose becomes shorter (the 'wearing-off' effect), sudden fluctuations occur between mobility and immobility (the 'on-off' phenomenon), and abnormal involuntary movements (dyskinesias) may become frequent. The dopamine agonist bromocriptine (Parlodel) can ameliorate some of these effects. Two new drugs, pergolide (Permax - Lilly), another dopamine...

Myocardial images produced by injections of radioactive thallium chloride (201Tl), usually during exercise, have been used for many years for diagnosis of coronary artery disease (Medical Letter, 21:49, 1979). Recently, some new techniques and radiopharmaceuticals have become available for myocardial imaging.