Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is essential for those taking medication for the long run, such as those who use anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). For AED monitoring, the most common method uses a liquid chromatography that is of high performance to determine the presence of anti-epileptic drugs in the human plasma. Some of the most common anti-epileptic drugs monitored through therapeutic drug monitoring include the following.

Last year, the federal government made a move to cut reimbursements made to toxicology laboratories. This is expected to save the government over $3 billion in the next five years. Although this may make a positive impact to the federal government, it cannot be said the same about toxicology laboratories in the U.S. Like every other decision made, the move to cut the amount of money budgeted for the toxicology laboratories has both positive and negative impacts on them. Some of the impacts of these reimbursement cuts include:

In toxicology labs and in the fields of clinical trials and clinical research, there are often some question marks about what expenses can be reimbursed through Medicare and Medicaid.

In the United States, Medicare is run by a federal agency known as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which gets funding from the Medicare taxes and social security funds you pay on your income. Medicaid, on the other hand, is a program by the government that provides health insurance to cover people whose incomes are limited. The central government funds it in collaboration with the states.

Fraud, lies, and a coverup. Those were the elements in play in the dramatic downfall of the once high-flying Theranos. This week, it was finally put out of its misery, although the legal troubles and public humiliation of founder Elizabeth Holmes will drag on for years.

Attendees at the 16^th Annual Congress of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology (IADTMCT 2018) in Brisbane, Australia will have a rare opportunity to get a close-up, in-depth look at groundbreaking applications for Mitra^® microsampling devices and Volumetric Absorptive Microsampling (VAMS™) technology in the crucial area of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM).

In pediatric medicine, for screening and other purposes, it is important to know the appropriate amount of blood that can be drawn from a child depending on their age. The younger they are, the less their blood volume. In cases of newborn screening, if too much blood is drawn, there is a risk of losing an infant.