Evaluating Patients for Drug-Induced Disease eReport

This ASHP eReport, adapted from the chapter of the same title in the book Drug-Induced Diseases: Prevention, Detection, and Management, will provide the clinician with a concise approach to the patient with suspected drug-induced disease.

Since almost every drug has the potential to cause an adverse effect and an associated drug-induced disease, the likelihood that a healthcare practitioner will encounter a drug-related problem is quite high. Unfortunately, clinicians are often slow to recognize adverse drug reactions and their associated drug-induced diseases. Sometimes they are not recognized at all. Because morbidity and mortality associated with drug-induced disease continues to be a major concern and adds considerably to healthcare costs, all healthcare providers would be well-advised to always ask themselves "Could this be drug-related?" when confronting a patient experiencing new or worsening symptoms.

Douglas A. Miller, PharmD

Douglas A. Miller is a professor at the Wayne State University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Detroit, where he teaches courses dealing with professional practice and patient care. He earned his BS in Pharmacy from The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy and his PharmD from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. His pharmacy experience includes practice in community, long term care, and hospital settings. For more than 20 years, he led a team that conceptualized and implemented innovative clinical pharmacy services at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital.

Dr. Miller served as a member of the Michigan Board of Pharmacy for 11 years including two terms as board chair. He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Pharmacists Association and the boards of both the Michigan Pharmacists Association and the Michigan Society of Health-System Pharmacists. He is the recipient of several awards and honors including the Annual Alumni Award of the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and the Distinguished Alumni Award of The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, the Pharmacist of the Year Award of the Michigan Pharmacists Association, and awards from both ASHP and APhA for outstanding practice in hospital pharmacy. Dr. Miller is a Fellow of the American Pharmacists Association.

James E. Tisdale, PharmD, BCPS, FCCP

James E. Tisdale received his BSc Pharm from the University of Manitoba in 1983 and his PharmD from S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo in 1988. He completed a pharmacy practice residency at the University of Manitoba Health Sciences Centre in 1984 and a fellowship in Cardiovascular Therapeutics at Hartford Hospital (CT) from 1988-1990. He is currently Professor of Pharmacy Practice in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the Purdue University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Adjunct Professor, School of Medicine, Indiana University in Indianapolis, IA.

Dr. Tisdale’s research interests are in the area of cardiovascular pharmacotherapy, focusing on mechanisms, risk factors, and management of drug-induced arrhythmias, and drug therapy for prevention and treatment of atrial fibrillation. His research has resulted in the publication of over 50 journal articles, 11 book chapters, and over 40 research abstracts in addition to his co-editorship of Drug-Induced Diseases: Prevention, Detection and Management. Dr. Tisdale’s research has been funded by the American Heart Association, numerous foundations, and the pharmaceutical industry. From 2001-2004, he was a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, and from 2008-2009 he was Chair, Clinical Sciences Section, Academy of Pharmaceutical Research and Science, American Pharmacists Association (APhA). Dr. Tisdale is currently President-Elect of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP).