Join us for an insightful episode where experts Brian W. Gilbert, PharmD, MBA, BCCCP, FCCM, FNCS, Lance Ray, PharmD, BCEMP, BCPS, and Ruben D. Santiago, PharmD, BCCCP, BCPS discuss an upcoming educational session at the Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition focused on the current state of illicit drug use in the United States. The session will cover both nonpharmacological and pharmacological management strategies, offering valuable insights for pharmacists via engaging case-based scenarios. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed on critical trends and treatment approaches!
The information presented during the podcast reflects solely the opinions of the presenter. The information and materials are not, and are not intended as, a comprehensive source of drug information on this topic. The contents of the podcast have not been reviewed by ASHP, and should neither be interpreted as the official policies of ASHP, nor an endorsement of any product(s), nor should they be considered as a substitute for the professional judgment of the pharmacist or physician.
(upbeat music) - Welcome to the ASHP official podcast, your guide to issues related to medication use, public health, and the profession of pharmacy. - Hello and thanks for joining us today on ASHP official. An anticipation of the 2024 of your clinical meeting and exhibition, ASHP is hosting a series of podcast episodes focused on highlighting key sessions, hot topics, and can't miss moments at the meeting. I'm Hannah Post, education director on the national meetings, education team at ASHP. And today we're sitting down with Brian Gilbert, emergency medicine, clinical pharmacy specialist at Wesley Medical Center, Lance Ray, clinical pharmacy specialist, emergency medicine, and PGY2 program director at Denver Health and Ruben Santiago, clinical hospital pharmacist, emergency medicine, and PGY2 emergency medicine, pharmacy program director, and Jackson Memorial Hospital. They will be presenting an educational session entitled When the Good Times Roll Too Far, Overview of Party Drug Management at mid-year. So, hey guys, excited to be with you today. I think where I wanna start is with your session. I'll start with you Ruben. Why is this a must attend session? - Absolutely, well, thanks for having us today. So, I believe ours is a must attend a session because there's a lot of different presentations for management of drug overdose that are coming to our ERs these days. And a lot of these things could be mixed picture till lots have been said in the news about Xylazine and recent memory, fentanyl and fentanyl analogs and how fentanyl is kind of mixed in with all other drugs that patients may normally take that they unknowingly take some fentanyl and come in with that presentation, that toxidrome, and also a kind of a re-emergence of party drugs of like GHB from used to air from back in the day. And looking at those toxidrones and presentations and how we manage those patients when they come into the ED. - Yeah, Hannah, I think one of the things that is interesting about this topic is that it literally started this idea in the inception of this presentation started on the plane ride back from mid-year last year in Anaheim. Lance and I were fortunate enough to be on the same flight and actually Lance approached me after the flight and said, "You know, I've been thinking about this idea." And I said, "Say less, let's roll." And obviously had to get Ruben involved. And so I think one of the things that you're gonna see is that you're gonna have different perspectives of like a traditional Midwest center, like my institution and the approach to some of these toxidrones, Lance is gonna have some of those cool, illicit medications that people are using out in the sort of West Coast area. And then Ruben's bringing that Miami flare down from the 305. And so it's gonna have a good perspective. We're gonna have some fun with this. And hopefully somebody learns something and could take it back and improve patient care at their shop. - Absolutely, Brian, yeah. So I think the number one reason to come to our presentation is to have fun. We're gonna make it a ball classic style in New Orleans. I'm trying to get these guys on board where we're in alternating suits. I got dibs on yellow and I already ordered mine. So hopefully the guys will fall in line here and get a purple, green, red, whatever. But yeah, no, like Brian said, I think one of the strengths of our presentation is gonna be the geographic diversity, which we always want in all presentations. And it just so happens that our emergency medicine pharmacy network is far and wide. And so it's easy to get a few folks, EM pharmacists like us together and really represent coast to coast, like butter and toast. - Yeah, it sounds like there won't be a shortage of entertainment, but I know this is also gonna be awesome content and it's definitely a timely topic. So your session is gonna cover the current state of illicit drug use in the United States. What is one key takeaway that you think all pharmacists should know on the topic right now? - Yeah, one thing I think is that when these patients present, have in mind that a lot of this might not be the patient's intent. It could have been something mixed that they took and maybe they were thinking they were taking their regular Schmeagler cocaine and it happened to be sprinkled with a little bit of fentanyl in it. Or they were just thought they were smoking some weed with a buddy and then, you know, all of a sudden they present this opiate toxidrome or what have you. And just having that always in the back of your mind is like, okay, this is what my patients presenting with. This is what I'm seeing. This is what I think I need to do to help manage that patient. - Yeah, to compound on what Ruben said is, this is an issue. Like it's happening country-wide. I'm sure it's international as well, but, you know, if you're thinking that, oh, I don't ever see this, this is not a problem in my area. It either it is and you're just not aware or be it's coming. So, you know, something like this in terms of just bringing attention to the potential issues or at least being cognizant that it's out there is gonna be huge. - Yeah, and something we always teach in emergency medicine pharmacy and toxicology is, number one rule, get a good history. Number two rule, don't trust the history. As Ruben and Brian both said, you know, polypharmacy is a common thing across American our geriatrics and our population with real pharmaceuticals. Same or even worse with our toxicological agents and our overdose agents, so. - All right, thank you all for sharing. This is definitely a not-to-be-mus session, but I want to focus a little bit on the mid-year meeting itself. What do you all love most about the mid-year? - Oh yeah, so I love being able to catch up with some old friends and meet some new ones and then also the networking aspect. I always feel rejuvenated after mid-year, like learning all the new things, seeing all the new ideas and thinking about like, "Oh man, I didn't think about doing it that way." And that kind of stuff and being able to bring that back to the hospital and also seeing all the new bright minds and the residents with their poster presentations and seeing all the other ED pharmacists and critical care pharmacists presenting on their topics at mid-year, is it such a blast? - Yeah, I agree. I mean, for me, it's always been the contents great. But you get content at other organizations, institutions. So what makes mid-year so unique is that you get just that flooding of pharmacists and pharmacy personnel, technicians, students, residents all within the area. So it's always fun to connect with old friends. We have a text chain together, Ruben and Lance and I, but there's nothing better than just kicking it with them and enjoying adult beverage and learning about different things that are going on within their area and things like Ruben said, you can take back to your shop. The other, just benefit of just introducing yourself, finding out new residents, finding new students, finding new people you didn't know before. And it's just a great opportunity to meet some of these folks, right? So our big internet celebrity, Ruben, the ED Traum Assist, gonna plug 'em here, but it's just funny you're walking around with Ruben and seeing how many people that he's been able to affect and how many patients he's affected with his account and getting a role with him and being part of his posse is something that I truly value and think is awesome. - Yeah, I can't improve on anything that both those guys said except Brian, Brian too, Brian's too modest. I've walked around with both of these guys at mid-year and people come up to 'em, oh my, I follow you, oh, I love this thing you did, I'm on there. And they're always so gracious to introduce me and the student or resident or whoever will look at me and be like, all right, and then go back to them and I'm like, I'm like, you know, it's so fun. Now, I like walking around these guys and everything they said, you know, meet new people, seein' old friends and there's an action-packed time in mid-year usually, lookin' forward to New Orleans especially. - Yeah, I think you guys nailed it, you know, networking and meeting people that you previously only know and maybe through social media or only virtually is definitely one of my favorite parts as well and it's definitely gonna be another Camp Miss event in New Orleans. So that's all the time we have for today. I wanna thank Brian, Lance, and Ruben for joining us to discuss their educational session when the good times roll too far, overview of party drug management. If you haven't already, I encourage you all to visit midyear.ashp.org to register for the mid-year. With more than 185 educational CE activities to choose from, there's something for everyone, from students to new practitioners to pharmacy directors. Thanks again for joining us for this special edition podcast and we hope to see you in New Orleans. - Thank you for listening to ASHP official, the voice of pharmacists advancing healthcare. Be sure to visit ashp.org/podcast to discover more great episodes, access show notes and download the episode transcript. If you loved the episode and wanna hear more, be sure to subscribe, rate or leave a review. Join us next time on ASHP official. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
