Commonwealth Medicine pharmacy residents honored with scholarship for research that characterized the use of prescription stimulants in a state Medicaid population

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Congratulations to Eliza Anderson, PharmD, and Wilson Haong, PharmD, MBA, residents in the Managed Care Pharmacy Residency Program at Commonwealth Medicine, on receiving one of two American Drug Utilization Review Society’s (ADURS) 2022 Elgene “Jake” Jacobs Memorial Scholarships for their research on prescription stimulant use in a state Medicaid population

Anderson and Haong co-authored the research with a team of Commonwealth Medicine clinical pharmacy experts to assess the use of prescription stimulants (commonly used for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, narcolepsy, and excessive daytime sleepiness) in the Massachusetts Medicaid (MassHealth) population. The research investigated the average doses, member age, diagnoses, and medication formulations. It was concluded that the average daily dose of stimulants in the MassHealth population was below the FDA-approved maximum daily doses.  

The scholarship allowed Anderson and Haong to present the research at the 2022 ADURS Symposium, an annual conference specializing in medication utilization within state Medicaid programs. The ADURS Symposium was held from February 24 through 26, 2022, in Scottsdale, Arizona.