Some commonly used treatments for chronic low back pain may offer limited benefit while increasing risks, underscoring the need for pharmacists to support evidence-based, patient-centered care.

Craig Beavers opens by describing what worsening congestion looks like clinically—the hallmark presentations of shortness of breath and dyspnea, peripheral and ankle edema, hepatojugular reflex, and declining functional capacity and quality of life. He notes that gut edema can leave patients feeling full or unable to eat and that some patients appear dry externally while remaining congested internally, detectable through decreased renal function or elevated markers of hepatic congestion on lab workup. Beavers explains why oral furosemide fails precisely when patients need it most, calling the problem multifactorial: reduced renal function, impaired absorption from gut edema, and patients not understanding how to appropriately up-titrate their dose. Bypassing GI metabolization yields better bioavailability and greater delivery to the nephrons. He then defines the patient who needs more than an oral regimen but not admission—those returning post-hospitalization without expected weight loss or regaining weight and becoming symptomatic. He describes using a remote dielectric sensing device measuring thoracic impedance to assess fluid status and highlights patients facing social determinant barriers who cannot travel to a diuretic clinic. Catching this window early, he emphasizes, is critical to adequate diuresis and readmission prevention.

Craig Beavers, PharmD, FACC, FAHA, FCCP, BCCP, BCPS (AQ-Cardiology), CACP, led a Pharmacy Times Clinical Forum on optimizing the management of patients with heart failure across practice settings.

Baseline proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use—and to a lesser extent antibiotic use—was associated with reduced benefit from consolidation durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy in patients with unresectable stage 3 NSCLC.

Nephrology experts Ashish Verma, MBBS, and Sophie Claudel, MD, discuss why eGFR alone misses CKD and how pharmacists can help drive earlier detection.

New PET imaging data show reduced dopamine nerve terminal density in patients with long COVID, correlating with fatigue, motor slowing, and memory problems.