Category Archives: ClinCalc News

ClinCalc DrugStats 2021 Update – The Most Commonly Prescribed Drugs in the United States

ClinCalc has released this year’s update to the DrugStats database — “The Top 200 Drugs of 2019”. DrugStats provides free access to prescription drug utilization data estimates for the United States.  Using this data set, users can identify trends in prescribing practice and an official, reputable “top 200 drugs” list based on data provided by the U.S. Government.

Where does the DrugStats data come from?

All medication utilization data comes from the annual Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a survey conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) via the United States government. This data is publicly available on the MEPS website for free.  In order for the ClinCalc DrugStats database to implement the MEPS data, basic data sanitization and standardization measures are necessary to maintain an accurate and reliable data set.  Read more about the data set by clicking here. Continue reading →

RxHero for iOS: Educational Gaming of the Top 250 Drugs

Gamification - Motivate your studying by earning game points, ranks, and awards as you complete RxHero campaigns

ClinCalc is proud to announce a new iOS app — RxHero, an educational game for healthcare students and professional to learn the Top 250 Drugs.

Key Features of RxHero

  • Leverages simple gamification concepts (quest campaigns, in-game points, ranks) to motivate learners to continue to engage in studying
  • Uses the evidence-based ClinCalc DrugStats drug list top 250 drugs, which represents about 95% of all prescribed medications on the U.S. market
  • Adaptive, multi-modal learning to focus your attention on drug facts that are unlearned or difficult by presenting these drug facts in a variety of different ways (quiz questions, matching, and drug spelling)
  • Drug pronunciation is deeply integrated into the app so that you can hear the pronunciation of brand and generic names at any time while learning drug facts

Continue reading →

Add Brand/Generic Drug Names to Microsoft Office Word with the ClinCalc DrugSpell Dictionary File

By default, Microsoft Word and other Office products do not contain brand and generic medication names within the spelling dictionary.  For healthcare providers who conduct medical writing, publications, or PowerPoint lectures, this can lead to embarrassing spelling errors that are not captured by the spell check.

Spell checking drug names like atorvastatin (Lipitor®) can be frustrating. Avoid spelling errors (and the dreaded red squiggly lines) with the ClinCalc DrugSpell dictionary file. It’s free!

Introducing the ClinCalc DrugSpell Dictionary File

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The Top 200 Drugs of 2018

Top 200 Drugs of 2019 - The ClinCalc DrugStats Database

We’re proud to announce the annual update of the DrugStats database.  DrugStats provides free access to prescription drug utilization data estimates for the United States.  Using this data set, users can identify trends in prescribing practice and an official, reputable “top 200 drugs” list based on data provided by the U.S. Government.

Where does the DrugStats data come from?

All medication utilization data comes from the annual Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a survey conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) via the United States government. This data is publicly available on the MEPS website for free.  In order for the ClinCalc DrugStats database to implement the MEPS data, basic data sanitization and standardization measures are necessary to maintain an accurate and reliable data set.  Read more about the data set by clicking here.
 Continue reading →

Introducing the ClinCalc DrugStats Database and the 2017 Top 200 Drugs

ClinCalc DrugStats Database

We’re excited to announce the launch of our newest product at ClinCalc.com — the DrugStats Database!  This database provides free, web-based access to outpatient prescription utilization statistics for the United States encompassing more than 3 billion prescriptions annually.

Features of the ClinCalc DrugStats Database

By leveraging the database, users can identify trends and compare usage of approximately 500 different outpatient medications.  A few examples include: Continue reading →

Calculate a “Fragility Index” to see which clinical trials BARELY meet statistical significance

ClinCalc.com's Fragility Index Calculator

When evaluating a clinical trial, readers often jump to the P value of the primary endpoint to determine whether the results of a trial are “statistically significant” or not. Although the P value is truly a continuous variable, the scientific community has been conditioned to disregard all results with P values ≥ 0.05, but to fully endorse any trials with a “statistically significant” P value less than 0.05.

Putting the debate and controversy about P values aside for the moment, as a reader, would you be less impressed with a study that changed from being statistically significant to insignificant if one single patient changed from not having the primary endpoint to having the primary endpoint? Especially in an era with a blind reliance on P values, the knowledge of the “fragility” or “robustness” of a study’s P value is another useful data point for readers to critically understand and analyze the results of a clinical trial.

The Concept of the “Fragility Index” for Clinical Trials

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New Colistin (colistimethate sodium) Calculator

Pseudomonas aeruginosa nutrient agar

Colistin (in the form of colistimethate sodium, or CMS, in the United States) is an older, last-line agent for multidrug-resistant gram-negative infections.  Because of colistin’s complex pharmacokinetics and for historical reasons, there is a paucity of data regarding its dosing in patients with severe gram negative infections, particularly for those with concurrent renal dysfunction.

In one of the largest pharmacokinetic analyses of colistin to date, Garonzik et al. published a detailed analysis of CMS dosing in critically ill patients.  This analysis included dosing recommendations for patients with normal renal function, acutely changing renal function, intermittent hemodialysis (IHD), and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).

ClinCalc is excited to announce our new colistin dosing calculator, which is based on the Garonzik pharmacokinetic recommendations.  This calculator was developed in coordination with Julie Ann Justo, PharmD, MS, BCPS, AAHIVP — an Assistant Professor at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy who specializes in infectious diseases and HIV pharmacotherapy. Continue reading →

Vancomycin Calculator Update – End of Infusion Peak (EoIP)

We’re releasing a major update to the calculation for our popular vancomycin calculator today. Briefly, the new update implements more advanced calculations when adjusting a vancomycin dose based on a trough level.

Drug Elimination during Vancomycin Infusion

When adjusting vancomycin based on a trough level, pharmacokinetic textbooks recommend estimating a vancomycin peak level using the following equation: Continue reading →

ICU Trials Passes 100 Landmark Studies

Summarized landmark critical care trials on your mobile device

ClinCalc.com is proud to announce that ICU Trials by ClinCalc, a mobile application that summarizes landmark critical care trials, has surpassed 100 studies in the app database!

With our most recent update on April 18th, the following recent and historic landmark trials were added:

  • MIDEX (2012): Dexmedetomidine vs. midazolam for mechanical ventilation
  • PAC-Man (2005): Efficacy of PA catheters in ICU patients
  • FEAST (2011): Fluid boluses in African children with severe infection
  • VSE (2013): Vasopressin, steroids, and epinephrine during cardiac arrest
  • MOPETT (2012): Alteplase for moderate PE
  • Brochard (1994): T-piece, SIMV, or PSV for ventilator weaning

Continue reading →

Speed Up Video Playback of The Top 250 Drugs Online Course

Increase Vimeo playback speed (Chrome extension)

At ClinCalc.com, we’re huge fans of listening and watching educational content at a faster than normal pace. Unfortunately, the video provider used for The Top 250 Drugs (online drug therapy course) does not allow for the ability to change playback speed.

If you’re using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, though, you’re in luck!  Both web browsers have free extensions that allow you to speed up the playback speed of any video, including those on ClinCalc Academy.

Continue reading →