Postpartum Hemorrhage

New Items Focus on Tranexamic Acid, Transitions in Care, and Vaccines PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Feb. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare organizations deciding on where to focus their medication safety efforts over the next two years now have updated recommendations from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP). ISMP has released its 2024-2025 Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Hospitals to identify recurring problems that continue to cause fatal and harmful errors despite repeated warnings and mobilize widespread national action to prevent them. Continue Reading This year's list includes new Best Practices on preventing wrong-route errors with tranexamic acid, errors at transitions in care, and mistakes with vaccines in inpatient and outpatient settings. "ISMP encourages hospitals and health systems to review this latest set of Best Practices and make implementation a priority," says Christina Michalek, BS, RPh, FASHP, Director of Membership and Patient Safety Organization (PSO). "Our focus is on key areas of concern where there are practical, achievable prevention strategies available to address risk." ISMP's Best Practices help hospitals and health systems decide where to focus their medication safety efforts. Post this The new Best Practices that have been added for 2024-2025 call for practitioners to: Safeguard against Wrong-Route Errors with Tranexamic Acid Tranexamic acid is an antifibrinolytic used perioperatively or off-label for a variety of hemorrhagic conditions to control bleeding, including postpartum hemorrhage. When accidentally administered intrathecally, it is a potent neurotoxin with a high mortality rate and is almost always harmful to the patient. ISMP has published several safety alerts related to wrong route errors with tranexamic acid. While label colors and vial sizes have been changed for tranexamic acid to help avoid mix-ups with local anesthetics in similar packaging, mistakes related to cap color can still happen when the vials are stored upright near each other. Tranexamic acid and local anesthetics are also available in ampules outside the United States, which contain labels on clear glass that are difficult to read and can be mistaken. In addition, these drugs are often found in areas where barcode scanning may not have been implemented or is not routinely utilized (e.g., perioperative areas, labor and delivery, emergency department), so practitioners are less likely to detect mix-ups. Implement Strategies to Prevent Medication Errors at Transitions in the Continuum of Care Discrepancies in medication histories and incomplete or inaccurate medication reconciliation are common causes of errors during transitions in the continuum of patient care, which have included drug omissions, wrong doses, wrong drugs, additional drugs, and drugs inappropriate for the patient's current care level or setting. Establishing expectations for conducting medication history collection, verification, and reconciliation, as well as designating the specific and appropriate individuals who should complete each process step are key to improving safe care handoffs for patients. The new best practice strategies are intended to prevent errors by facilitating collection of the best possible, most complete medication list at the patient's entry to the care setting, ensuring the medication and doses are correct for that patient given their current state of health, and by having a provider reconcile the medication history list to prescribed therapy documenting modifications and resolving any discrepancies. Safeguard against Errors with Vaccines in the Inpatient and Associated Outpatient Settings. Immunizations prevent diseases in children and adults; however, errors with vaccines can result in unintended and unrecognized vulnerability, leaving patients unprotected against serious diseases. Analysis of reports submitted to ISMP National Vaccine Errors Reporting Program show that there are opportunities to reduce the risk of vaccine-related mistakes based on commonly identified contributing factors, such as errors with age-specific formulations, wrong patient errors due to confusion between siblings, invalid doses (given too soon) or missed opportunities to vaccinate, wrong route errors caused by unfamiliarity with the vaccine, errors with combination vaccines or vaccines with diluents, wrong vaccines related to vaccine nomenclature, wrong vaccine and dose errors related to labeling and packaging, errors related to unsafe vaccine storage, administration of expired vaccines, and failure to involve the patient in the verification process. ISMP began issuing Best Practices in 2014. The recommendations are based on error reports received through the ISMP National Medication Errors Reporting Program (ISMP MERP) and are reviewed by an external expert advisory panel and approved by the ISMP Board of Directors. They are designed to set realistic goals, which have already been adopted by numerous organizations. For a copy of the 2024-2025 ISMP Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Hospitals document, which contains specific, actionable error prevention suggestions, visit: Targeted Medication Safety Best Practices for Hospitals | Institute For Safe Medication Practices (ismp.org) About the Institute for Safe Medication Practices The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is the nation's first 501c (3) nonprofit organization devoted entirely to preventing medication errors. ISMP is known and respected for its medication safety information. For more than 30 years, it also has served as a vital force for progress. ISMP's advocacy work alone has resulted in numerous necessary changes in clinical practice, public policy, and drug labeling and packaging. Among its many initiatives, ISMP runs the only national voluntary practitioner medication error reporting program, publishes newsletters with real-time error information read and trusted throughout the global healthcare community, and offers a wide range of unique educational programs, tools, and guidelines. In 2020, ISMP formally affiliated with ECRI to create one of the largest healthcare quality and safety entities in the world, and ECRI and the ISMP PSO is a federally certified patient safety organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As an independent watchdog organization, ISMP receives no advertising revenue and depends entirely on charitable donations, educational grants, newsletter subscriptions, and volunteer efforts to pursue its life-saving work. Visit and follow @ismp_org to learn more. SOURCE Institute for Safe Medication Practices

Commitment to make life-saving products to treat life-threatening hypovolemia due to sepsis and blood loss available in Sub-Saharan Africa where there is outsized demand. Targeted $20M Series B Round to include Sub-Saharan Africa in product development. Partnering with Propelevate to drive Sub-Saharan Africa strategy. KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Life sciences company Vivacelle Bio today announced Sub-Saharan Africa as a priority region for its life-saving alternative to fluid resuscitation to treat hypovolemia caused by severe sepsis, septic shock, or blood loss. Vivacelle Bio's lifesaving cardiovascular support fluids (VBI-S and VBI-1), both comprised of phospholipid nanoparticles, can be used to treat the refractory hypovolemia and hypotension that occur in severe sepsis and septic shock, and used instead of blood to correct hypovolemia from blood loss such as after major vehicle collisions and postpartum hemorrhage. Vivacelle Bio is partnering with Propelevate to drive the Sub-Saharan Africa strategy, which is fully integrated into its Series B financing round. Globally, sepsis kills ~11M people each year. Young children in Sub-Saharan Africa have outsized rates of sepsis death from neonatal sepsis, and sepsis caused by respiratory infection, diarrheal disease, and malaria. A child born in sub-Saharan Africa is nearly 8 times more likely to die in the first month of life than a child born in the US. Likewise, seventy percent of pregnancy-related deaths globally occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. Annually more than 75,000 women in the region die from postpartum hemorrhage or maternal sepsis. Vivacelle Bio's use of phospholipid nanoparticles to raise the blood pressure in patients with life-threatening hypovolemia due to blood loss, sepsis and septic shock is unprecedented. A successful phase 2a clinical trial of VBI-S, the formulation designed for treating hypovolemia due to septic shock, was recently completed. The fluid restores intravascular volume and absorbs nitric oxide, a gas made by the body that is largely responsible for the drop in blood pressure that is not responsive to current therapy. The evidence from the clinical trial showed that VBI-S is safe for patients while it increases blood pressure and reverses organ failure even when standard therapy has failed. This is the first-time in 20 years that a phase 2 or phase 3 trial in septic shock has succeeded in meeting all of its efficacy endpoints. VBI-1, designed for blood loss, also absorbs nitric oxide, and protects vital organs from reperfusion injury. Pre-clinical studies show that VBI-1 has greater efficacy than blood or standard of care fluids in raising blood pressure after severe hemorrhagic shock. Blood and other fluids promote reperfusion injury to vital organs while VBI-1 prevents this organ damage. The current $20M Series B round includes funding for a Global Pediatric Phase III trial for VBI-S, and two Phase IIA trials for VBI-1, which will integrate sites in Sub-Saharan Africa to ensure the efficacy of both products in diverse contexts. Vivacelle Bio Co-Founder Dr. Cuthbert Simpkins, MD, Chief Innovation Officer of Vivacelle Bio and Sosland Missouri Endowed Chair in Trauma Services at the University of Missouri, Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine, says "VBI-S and VBI-1 can be used in any context where there is a health worker able to administer IV fluids. VBI-S has shown to be more effective than vasopressors at addressing septic shock, without the side effects such as gangrene of fingers and toes. Moreover, VBI-S carries oxygen and is shown to improve lung oxygenation, and reverse elevated creatinine in septic patients. Both VBI-S and VBI-1 are shelf stable for at least a year at room temperature with VBI-S currently having more than 2 years stability at room temperature. VBI-1 circumvents many of the challenges of blood transfusions: the challenges of securing blood donors, the need to type, to maintain cold chain, the short shelf-life, and the risk of disease transmission." Harven DeShield, JD, PhD, the CEO of Vivacelle Bio commented, "Being born in Liberia, and raised in Liberia, Côte d'Ivoire and Tanzania, the critical value proposition of VBI-S and VBI-1 being readily affordable and available in Africa is not only of immense personal importance, but also provides a holistic, strategic vehicle to address persistent health inequities in Africa related to treatment of shock and trauma." Dr. Angela James, Senior Advisor for 2Flo Ventures, a Chicago-based startup studio and venture capital firm, and investor in Vivacelle Bio, echoed the importance of the impact of addressing the global unmet need for people with sepsis and septic shock having equitable access to safe and effective treatments. "Vivacelle Bio is poised to bring life-changing drugs to patients and their families in a region which has not been given equitable access to effective therapies is a great opportunity from both a healthcare and business perspective." Through partnership with Propelevate, Vivacelle Bio will engage global health funders and stakeholders during final stages of product development, and Propelevate will drive Vivacelle Bio's go-to-market strategy for African markets upon regulatory approval. "We are excited to partner with Vivacelle Bio because of their commitment to Sub-Saharan Africa. Life sciences companies typically think about the region as an afterthought. Vivacelle Bio is already taking specific needs in the region into account in product development and laying the groundwork for eventual local manufacturing to ensure wide availability of its life-saving products," said Propelevate's Managing Director Krisila Benson. This work was supported by the Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC) - Naval Advanced Medical Development (NAMD) Program under MTEC award 20-02-NavyMultiTopic-002. About MTEC The Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) is a 501(c)(3) biomedical technology consortium collaborating under an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) that serves those who serve our nation. For more information about MTEC, visit mtec-sc.org. About Vivacelle Bio: Vivacelle Bio () is a life sciences company that utilizes patented phospholipid nanoparticle technology to design products that increase the survivability of critically-ill patients. In addition to VBI-S and VBI-1, Vivacelle Bio has a pipeline of products at various stages of development applicable to a range of health areas including reperfusion injury, organ preservation and transplantation, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and hyperprocalcitonemia. Vivacelle Bio has raised approximately $10.9M in seed and Series A1-A3 funding, including from the US Department of Defense, the US National Institutes of Health, and 2Flo Ventures. About Propelevate: Propelevate () is a consulting firm working at the intersection of the private sector and social impact. Propelevate has experience bringing new health products to market in Africa and Asia, raising tens of millions of dollars in global health financing, and brokering successful partnerships between commercial and development actors. SOURCE Vivacelle Bio

MELBOURNE, Fla., Jan. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Preeclampsia Foundation welcomed a new group of officers to their 2024 Board of Directors today. Robyn D'Oria, MA, RNC, APN will serve as the new Board chair, having served previously as Vice Chair under the leadership of Immediate Past Chair Rakhi Dimino, MD, MMM, CPE. Robyn is the Chief Executive Officer of the Central Jersey Family Health Consortium (CJFHC), a regionalized network of agencies and providers involved in the delivery of perinatal and pediatric services in central New Jersey. D'Oria has been extensively involved with improving national obstetric patient safety through her involvement with quality improvement initiatives, including state lead for the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) postpartum hemorrhage project, and as a member of their Expert Panel on Maternal Mortality. More recently, she has served as a consultant for AWHONN and their Merck for Mothers Postbirth Warning Signs Initiative and received the 2022 AWHONN Nurse Leader of the Year award. Currently, she is a member of the Executive Advisory Board for the Institute for Perinatal Quality Improvement, co-chair of the NJ Perinatal Quality Collaborative, member of the NJ Maternal Mortality Review Committee, as well as the governor-appointed NJ Maternal Care Quality Collaborative. "We continue to be honored and grateful for the professional leadership provided by the officers and members of our Board of Directors," said Preeclampsia Foundation CEO Eleni Tsigas. "I'm consistently impressed by the breadth and depth of insight they bring to our mission, and the commitment that they regularly demonstrate through their time, talent and treasure." She will be joined by new Vice Chair Annie Croslow, JD, Treasurer Raphaël Charbit, MBA, CFP, CTP, and Secretary Todd McLaughlin. Vice Chair Annie Croslow is a licensed attorney in Northern VA, and active Certified Public Accountant who served as former Deputy Associate Counsel to the President of the United States and later as Chief Special Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Before that, she worked as an associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where she represented clients in internal investigations and in white-collar and regulatory matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. Croslow joined the board in 2021. Secretary Todd McLaughlin is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP-Global), the professional association of individuals and organizations that generate philanthropic support for a wide variety of charitable institutions. He brings extensive non-profit fundraising experience to the Board, where he has served since 2019. Treasurer Raphaël Charbit joined the Preeclampsia Foundation board of directors in 2023, bringing his vast financial management expertise to the team. He is a CFA® Charterholder and a Certified Treasury Professional, with a bachelor's degree in business and a Master's degree in finance from Institut Superieur de Gestion. The Foundation also expresses its deep gratitude to immediate past chair, Dr. Rakhi Dimino, for her leadership and guidance on the Board of Directors. Dr. Dimino is the Medical Director of Operations for the Ob Hospitalist Group, where she implements and manages OB/GYN physician and midwife hospitalist teams. "As a frontline obstetrician and quality improvement leader, Dr. Dimino brought her professional and personal passion for patient advocacy and engagement to her Board role," added CEO Tsigas. "We're grateful for her tenure of service and the continued relationship we will have as partners in this work." Other Foundation Board members include Alen Amimi, MBA, Fran Ayalasomayajula, MPH, Jennifer DeYoung, MPPA, Jasmine Mago, and immediate past chair Rakhi Dimino, MD. Learn more about the Foundation's board at About the Preeclampsia Foundation The Preeclampsia Foundation is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2000 to improve the outcomes of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy by educating, supporting, and engaging the community, improving healthcare practices, and finding a cure. We envision a world where preeclampsia and related hypertensive disorders of pregnancy no longer threaten the lives of mothers and babies. For more information, visit . Contact: Laney Poye 321.421.6957 372082@email4pr.com