November 6, 2019
IN THIS ISSUE / November 6, 2019
DW Insights and Inquiries: Getting the gist of GIST cutaneous hyperpigmentation disease
Academy releases joint guidelines for psoriasis in pediatric patients
Federal report addresses drug shortage causes, potential solutions
SPF 50+ vs. 100+ — is there a difference?
According to study results published in JAAD, sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) 100+ was significantly more protective against UV-induced erythema and sunburn compared with SPF 50+ and should be recommended for prolonged and recurrent sun exposure.
Researchers compared the efficacy of SPF 50+ and 100+ sunscreens over five days (an average of 3.64 hours daily sun exposure) using 55 healthy subjects who applied both sunscreens to a randomized side of the face/body. Each morning following sun exposure, a blinded evaluation of erythema by a single grader and objective instrumental assessments, colorimetry, and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy were performed.
After five days, 56% of subjects had more sunburn on the SPF 50+ side and 7% on the SPF 100+ side. There was statistically significant less erythema on the SPF 100+ side compared to the SPF 50+. The first occurrence of sunburn exclusively on the SPF 50+ side was observed after a single day of sun exposure, while sunburn on the SPF 100+ side was not observed until after three consecutive days of sun exposure.
Read the Academy’s statement on sunscreen safety.
Related content:
FAQs on sunscreen ingredients, proposed rule on the final monograph
Do European sunscreens outperform those in the U.S.? – Dermatology World (October 2017)
DW Insights and Inquiries: Getting the gist of GIST cutaneous hyperpigmentation disease
Academy announces new Executive Director and CEO
The American Academy of Dermatology/Association has announced that Elizabeth K. Usher, MBA, will serve as the Academy’s new Executive Director and CEO.
Usher is an executive with more than 20 years of global experience and is a proven leader in the medical device, pharmaceutical, and diagnostic industries. Prior to joining the Academy, she will have served as the chief market and customer officer at the College of American Pathologists (CAP). She also served as chief marketing, sales, and communications officer for CAP. At GE Healthcare she held positions as chief marketing officer of surgery, and vice president and general manager of molecular imaging for the Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) region. She also held the position of vice president and general manager, international for Amersham Health’s Oncura, Ltd. business.
Usher will start at the Academy on Jan. 6, 2020.
Academy releases joint guidelines for psoriasis in pediatric patients
The American Academy of Dermatology and National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) have released new guidelines of care for the management and treatment of psoriasis in pediatric patients. View the pediatric psoriasis guidelines or read the highlights.
Related content:
Pediatric drug testing obstacles – Dermatology World (October 2019)
Warren R. Heymann, MD, on pediatric dermatology topics – DW Insights and Inquiries
AAD/A members vote to remove Board member
Members of the American Academy of Dermatology and AAD Association (AAD/A) voted to remove Scott Dinehart, MD, from the Board of Directors in a removal vote held Oct. 21–29. A total of 6,467 votes were cast, with 96.57% voting in favor of removal, meeting the two-thirds threshold required by the AAD/A bylaws to remove a Board member.
Join the Academy’s skin cancer measure testing project
The Academy is seeking participants for its new skin cancer measure testing project. Your participation will help build better dermatology measures for clinical practice, DataDerm™, and MIPS. These outcome measures will help you see which patients with skin cancer are improving.
Participants will be asked to provide data on five quality measures on skin cancer, including process and outcome measures addressing appropriate surgical margins, post-operative complications, dysplastic nevi biopsies, biopsy site photos, and tracking of recurrence.
Find out which MIPS deadlines are approaching, and read an interview with John Albertini, MD, about how his practice uses DataDerm to ease the burden of reporting.
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Federal report addresses drug shortage causes, potential solutions
A recent report, the work of a task force led by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), identified three root causes for drug shortages and presented recommendations to address the shortages. The causes are outlined below:
Lack of incentives for manufacturers to produce less profitable drugs;
The market does not recognize and reward manufacturers for “mature quality systems” that focus on continuous improvement and early detection of supply chain issues; and
Logistical and regulatory challenges make it difficult for the market to recover from a disruption.
Some of the solutions discussed include developing a rating system to incentivize drug manufacturers to invest in quality management maturity for their facilities; creating a shared understanding of the impact of shortages on patients and the contacting practices that may contribute to shortages; and promoting sustainable private sector contracts to ensure a reliable supply of medically important drugs.
“Given the potential scale of impacts from drug shortages, and the fact that these impacts have continually been underestimated, it is likely that drug shortages will continue to persist absent major changes to this marketplace,” the task force concluded in the report.
A 2018 AADA survey found that four in 10 dermatologists experience drug shortages daily and nine in 10 experience shortages at least monthly. Earlier this year, the AADA submitted a letter to the FDA expressing concern about the ongoing national shortages of lidocaine with epinephrine, lidocaine, other local anesthetics, as well as sodium bicarbonate. Read the AADA's letter.
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