Drug Interactions of Medications Commonly Used in Diabetes    1.
Curtis Triplitt, PharmD, CDE      When patients are diagnosed
with diabetes, a large number of medications become appropriate
therapy. These include medications for dyslipidemia,
hypertension, antiplatelet therapy, and glycemic control. So
many medications can be overwhelming, and it is imperative that
patients are thoroughly educated about their drug regimen.
Patients have many concerns when multiple medications are
started, including prescribing errors, the cost of medications,
and possible adverse effects. Significantly, 58% of patients
worry that they will be given medications that have drug
interactions that will adversely affect their health.1 These
worries are not unfounded given that several highly publicized
drugs have been withdrawn from the U.S. market in the past
several years because of adverse effects from drug interactions.
Terfenadine, mibefradil, and cisapride have all been withdrawn
from the market specifically because of