WHAT'S KNOWN ON THIS SUBJECT:Most previous research has not revealed an increased risk of autism associated with receipt of thimerosal-containing vaccines. Evidence is limited, however, on the timing of vaccination, especially prenatal exposure, and associations with different subtypes of autism. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS:This study revealed no increased risk of ASD associated with receipt of thimerosal-containing vaccines. No increased risk was found for subtypes of ASD, including ASD with regression, and prenatal exposure was not associated with a risk of ASD. abstract OBJECTIVE: Exposure to thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative that is used in vaccines and immunoglobulin preparations, has been hypothesized to be associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study was designed to examine relationships between prenatal and infant ethylmercury exposure from thimerosalcontaining vaccines and/or immunoglobulin preparations and ASD and 2 ASD subcategories: autistic disorder (AD) and ASD with regression. METHODS:A case-control study was conducted in 3 managed care organizations (MCOs) of 256 children with ASD and 752 controls matched by birth year, gender, and MCO. ASD diagnoses were validated through standardized in-person evaluations. Exposure to thimerosal in vaccines and immunoglobulin preparations was determined from electronic immunization registries, medical charts, and parent interviews. Information on potential confounding factors was obtained from the interviews and medical charts. We used conditional logistic regression to assess associations between ASD, AD, and ASD with regression and exposure to ethylmercury during prenatal, birth-to-1 month, birthto-7-month, and birth-to-20-month periods. RESULTS:There were no findings of increased risk for any of the 3 ASD outcomes. The adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for ASD associated with a 2-SD increase in ethylmercury exposure were 1.12 (0.83-1.51) for prenatal exposure, 0.88 (0.62-1.26) for exposure from birth to 1 month, 0.60 (0.36 -0.99) for exposure from birth to 7 months, and 0.60 (0.32-0.97) for exposure from birth to 20 months.

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Psychiatric pharmacists have specialized knowledge, skills, and training or substantial experience working with patients with psychiatric or neurologic disorders. As part of the collaborative team with a physician, psychiatric pharmacists can provide comprehensive medication management (CMM), a direct patient care service, to patients with psychiatric or neurologic disorders. CMM is a standard of care in which all medications for an individual patient are assessed to determine appropriateness, effectiveness, safety, and adherence. Studies have shown that when psychiatric pharmacists are included as part of the collaborative team with a physician, medication-related outcomes for patients with psychiatric or neurologic disorders improve. Despite the evidence supporting the value of psychiatric pharmacists as part of the health care team, the very limited mechanisms for compensation for CMM limit the numbers of patients with psychiatric or neurologic disorders who have access to services provided by a psychiatric pharmacist. We believe that all patients with psychiatric or neurologic disorders should have access to CMM provided by a psychiatric pharmacist.

Context The identification of genetic variants associated with common disease is accelerating rapidly. “Multiplex tests” that give individuals feedback on large panels of genetic variants have proliferated. Availability of these test results may prompt consumers to use more healthcare services. Objective To examine whether offers of multiplex genetic testing increases healthcare utilization among healthy patients aged 25–40. Participants 1,599 continuously insured adults aged 25–40 were surveyed and offered a multiplex genetic susceptibility test (MGST) for eight common health conditions. Main Outcome Measure Healthcare utilization from automated records was compared in 12 month pre- and post-test periods among persons who completed a baseline survey only (68.7%), those who visited a study Web site but opted not to test (17.8%), and those who chose the MGST (13.6%). Results In the pre-test period, persons choosing genetic testing used an average of 1.02 physician visits per quarter compared to 0.93 and 0.82 for the other groups (p<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences by group in the pre-test use of any common medical tests or procedures associated with four common health conditions. When changes in physician and medical test/procedure use in the post-test period were compared among groups, no statistically significant differences were observed for any utilization category. Conclusions Persons offered and completing multiplex genetic susceptibility testing used more physician visits prior to testing, but testing was not associated with subsequent changes in use. This study supports that multiplex genetic testing offers can be provided directly to patients in such a way that use of health services are not inappropriately increased.

Introduction Psychiatric and neurologic illnesses are highly prevalent and are often suboptimally treated. A 2015 review highlighted the value of psychiatric pharmacists in improving medication-related outcomes. There is a need to describe areas of expansion and strengthened evidence regarding pharmacist practice and patient care impact in psychiatric and neurologic settings since 2015. Methods A systematic search of literature published from January 2014 to June 2019 was conducted. Publications describing patient-level outcome results associated with pharmacist provision of care in a psychiatric/neurologic setting and/or in relation to central nervous system (CNS) medications were included. Results A total of 64 publications were included. There was significant heterogeneity of published study methods and data, prohibiting meta-analysis. Pharmacists practicing across a wide variety of health care settings with focus on CNS medication management significantly improved patient-level outcomes, such as medication adherence, disease control, and avoidance of hospitalization. The most common practice approach associated with significant improvement in patient-level outcomes was incorporation of psychiatric pharmacist input into the interprofessional health care team. Discussion Pharmacists who focus on psychiatric and neurologic disease improve outcomes for patients with these conditions. This is important in the current health care environment as most patients with psychiatric or neurologic conditions continue to have unmet needs. Additional studies designed to measure pharmacists' impact on patient-level outcomes are encouraged to strengthen these findings.