joe | Pharmatherapist

About joe

Joseph Wegmann, R.Ph., LCSW is a licensed clinical pharmacist and a clinical social worker with more than thirty years of experience in the field of psychopharmacology. His diverse professional background in psychopharmacology and counseling affords him a unique perspective on medication management issues. In addition to consulting with numerous psychiatric facilities, he has presented psychopharmacology seminars to thousands of clinicians in 46 states.

FDA Approves “deep brain stimulation” for OCD

The Food and Drug Administration has approved "deep brain stimulation" for treatment resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD. This is the first instance that this procedure, which involves the surgical implantation of electrodes deep within the brain to trigger electrical activity, has been approved for use in a psychiatric syndrome. The implants have previously been used to treat movement disorders, mostly notably Parkinson’s disease. Once the electrodes are surgically in place, clinicians control how the electrical impulses are delivered to the [...]

joe2015-03-30T15:51:54+00:00

The Power of Initiative: An Observation from my Recent Trip to Seattle

A couple of weeks ago, I presented three psychopharmacology seminars in the Spokane/Seattle area. On the day of my departure from Seattle, a misty rain was falling making for a slow go to the airport. After dropping off the rental car, I scurried into the main terminal arriving at the security checkpoint 45 minutes prior to my flight. There were at least a hundred people ahead of me, and my Seattle to Denver flight was on time. If I made [...]

joe2009-05-11T11:39:13+00:00

New Indications for Symbyax

Eli Lilly has gained FDA approval for its combination psychotropic medication product Symbyax to be used in the management of treatment-resistant depression. Symbyax was previously approved only for the treatment of depressive episodes associated with bipolar disorder. The drug is a combination of the antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine) with the antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine) and is now the first medication approved for treatment-resistant depression. Patients that have not responded to a minimum of two separate trials of different antidepressants over an adequate [...]

joe2009-05-09T11:23:00+00:00

Communicating with Physicians during Office Visits

How well do you communicate with your physician? Do you feel intimidated or inferior in the presence of your doctor? Do you ever develop “white-coat brain lock” when it comes to asking questions? When leaving the office, do you wonder what foreign language or in what tongue your doctor was speaking? If you answered yes to any or even possibly all of the above questions, you’re not alone, because one of the biggest communication gaps going is between physicians and [...]

joe2009-05-08T11:11:13+00:00

Pristiq: New Antidepressant or Merely a Patent Extender?

The newest entry into the antidepressant market is Pristiq (desvenlafaxine).Pristiq (desvenlafaxine), is in the SNRI category of antidepressants and is manufactured by the Wyeth Corporation. This drug received FDA approval in March, 2008. Faced with the fact that Wyeth is losing patent protection for its top-selling antidepressant Effexor XR(venlafaxine XR), the company needed a brand product that would potentially replace some of the revenue loss when Effexor XR goes generic in 2010. Sales of Effexor XR in 2007 hovered around [...]

joe2009-03-15T10:41:10+00:00

Direct-to-Consumer Advertising for Prescription Drugs

Those ubiquitous television advertisements for prescription drugs probably won’t disappear anytime soon, but the pharmaceutical industry has reeled in commercial spending and is expected to announce restrictions on its ads. A number of trends are responsible for the changes to the industry’s advertising strategy. Congress has ramped up its scrutiny of drug advertisements. Fewer new medications have been approved by the FDA in recent years, and previous best sellers have lost the benefits of patent protection. Prior to 2007, consumer-focused […]

joe2009-03-15T09:32:24+00:00

Welcome

Welcome clinicians, colleagues, friends and caregivers to our blogposts. We hope these commentaries will bring fresh perspectives, valuable insights and solutions to your mental health medication issues. Our desire is that you find something of interest in each of these posts, and that you will look forward to receiving them on a weekly basis. We would love to hear your comments, suggestions or requests for future content. Sincerely, Joe Wegmann

joe2009-03-15T08:23:47+00:00

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