…channel inhibitor in the sinus node The only drug that reduces heart rate without affecting contractility, blood pressure, or conduction — it inhibits the funny current…

…used in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction when blood pressure or angina requires it. The slow onset makes the drug unsuitable for acute blood…

…the entire explanation for why the drug is ineffective in infranodal block. The effect comes within one minute and fades over an hour or so…

…in chronic kidney disease with albuminuria, with or without diabetes. The dose is the same — 10 mg once daily — for all indications, making this drug…

…heparin, dalteparin is eliminated renally, so at eGFR below 30 ml/min the effect accumulates and the dose must be adjusted or the drug changed.

…maintenance-and-reliever therapy in the same inhaler. The two regimens must never be confused — this is the most common prescribing error with this drug.

…for induction in the bleeding, septic, or otherwise preload-dependent patient, and the bronchodilation makes it valuable in life-threatening asthma. Respiratory drive and laryngeal…

…20 in EMPA-KIDNEY. The glucose-lowering effect diminishes as eGFR falls, but the cardiorenal effect persists — which is the entire point of the drug.

Adrenalin Stragen EpiPen Jext α- and β-agonist The only drug that reverses all components of anaphylaxis, and the cornerstone of cardiac arrest treatment. The…

…α-adrenergic blocker Non-selective alpha-blocker with onset within minutes and duration under half an hour. A niche drug: catecholamine-induced hypertensive crisis — phaeochromocytoma…

…months require flare prophylaxis because falling urate levels themselves trigger attacks. Two features make this drug dangerous: the hypersensitivity syndrome and the combination with azathioprine.

Pradaxa Direct thrombin inhibitor (factor IIa) The only DOAC that directly inhibits thrombin and the only one with a specific, rapidly acting antidote — idarucizumab achieves…

Tambocor Class IC antiarrhythmic A potent sodium channel blocker with marked efficacy on atrial arrhythmias in structurally normal hearts. The CAST trial showed increased mortality…

…with rapid onset and minimal anticholinergic burden. The drug has two entirely different dosing worlds: a few milligrams in acute psychotic agitation in younger patients…

…making the drug unsuitable as first-line treatment in hypertensive crisis — but useful in pre-eclampsia and as afterload relief in combination with a nitrate…

…quickly, which is an advantage: the drug suits as-needed use and can be discontinued with rapid recovery of renal function and platelet function. The…

…while systemic vascular resistance and diastolic blood pressure fall, so the drug raises rate but not pressure. Used where rate itself is the problem: bradycardia…

…antidepressant that is rarely used for depression in contemporary practice — its role today is neuropathic pain and prophylaxis for migraine and chronic tension-type headache…

…V2 receptor means it lacks the vasoconstrictive effect of vasopressin. The danger is not the drug itself but the fluid the patient drinks with it.

…placebo. IMPROVE-IT showed that the additional LDL lowering also translates into fewer cardiovascular events, making ezetimibe the first non-statin drug with outcome data.

GlucaGen HypoKit Glucagon Novo Nordisk Baqsimi Ogluo Pancreatic hormone, glycogenolytic agent and inotrope Two entirely different drugs in the same ampoule. In severe hypoglycaemia, 1…