International Deprescribing Journal Club

About the International Deprescribing Journal Club

The Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network works with international partners to host the journal club’s quarterly sessions. This journal club is for clinicians and researchers around the globe looking to connect and discuss recent deprescribing publications and complex clinical cases.

Goals of the International Deprescribing Journal Club

  • Strengthen partnerships among international deprescribing networks

  • Stay current with the literature and share knowledge

  • Build momentum and collaboration to facilitate larger international deprescribing trials showing impacts of deprescribing

Session topics & format

  • Content includes deprescribing case studies, recent literature, or a combination of both

  • Sessions last approximately 50 to 60 minutes, including a minimum of 20 minutes of Q&A

  • Sessions are recorded and posted on the Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network’s YouTube channel.


Upcoming session

Successful Deprescribing in Chronic Pain: Discussions of Two Complex Cases

Date and time: Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 12-1 PM (Montréal, Canada)
Other time zones: Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 9-10 AM (Los Angeles, USA)
Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 5-6 PM (London, UK)
Thursday, February 27, 2025, 4-5 AM (Melbourne, Australia)

Hosted by: Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network & Quebec Pain Research Network

Description: Using two real-life clinical cases, this session will describe the process of deprescribing or rotating opioids, gabapentinoids and other medication classes. A particular emphasis will be placed on the importance of provider follow-ups, availability of an interprofessional team’s support, and active patient engagement for successful deprescribing interventions.

Presenter: Anne Marie Pinard (MD, MEd) is an anesthesiologist and head of the chronic pain department at the Québec CHU (University Hospital Center). She is a full professor at Laval University and a researcher at Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (CIRRIS). She holds the Leadership Chair in Chronic Pain Education, aiming to improve chronic pain management and provide patients with validated resources and a self-management tool. She is very involved in various chronic pain initiatives at the provincial and Canadian levels.


Past sessions

Engaging inpatient clinicians in deprescribing: lessons from an implementation science approach.


Reducing inappropriate prescribing in older adults: Lessons learned from Swiss primary care settings

Presented by: Dr. Katharina Tabea Jungo

Hosted by: Network of European Researchers in Deprescribing (NERD)

Date: Oct 30, 2024

Dr. Jungo discussed the article Optimising prescribing in older adults with multimorbidity and polypharmacy in primary care (OPTICA): cluster randomised clinical trial, including findings of the health economic analysis and the implementation evaluation conducted alongside the OPTICA trial.

Click here to download slides (PDF)


Measurement issues in medication safety: what matters, what data do we have and how do we evaluate cost effectiveness?

Prescribing Cascades: Identifying, Managing, and Preventing the Domino Effect


Presented by: Dr. Kieran Dalton and Dr. Lisa McCarthy

Hosted by: European Society of Clinical Pharmacy

Date: March 6, 2024

Description: This session provides an overview of key research to help inform the focus and design of guidance, tools, and interventions to minimise the occurrence of prescribing cascades in patients.

Click here to download slides (PDF)


Deprescribing educational framework : challenges for implementation and educational scholarship

Presented by: Dr. Barbara Farrell, Dr. Lalitha Raman-Wilms, and Dr. Cheryl A. Sadowski

Hosted by: Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network

Date: December 6, 2023

Description: Based on the first international interprofessional deprescribing curricular framework, the lead authors share the highlights and discuss application.

Click here to download slides (PDF)


Lessons from a pilot of ALIGN: Aligning Medications with What Matters Most

Presented by: Dr. Ariel Green

Hosted by: US Deprescribing Research Network

Date: September 20, 2023

Description: ALIGN is a pragmatic, pharmacist-led telehealth intervention in primary care to optimize medications for people living with dementia and reduce inappropriate polypharmacy by focusing on what matters most to patients and care partners.

Click here to download slides (PDF)


COFRAIL and Deprescribing Inappropriate PPIs Trials

Presented by: Dr. Achim Mortsiefer and Dr. Kristie Weir

Hosted by: Network of European Researchers in Deprescribing

Date: June 19, 2023

Description: Dr. Achim Mortsiefer presented The COFRAIL Cluster Randomized Trial. Dr. Kristie Weir presents Deprescribing Inappropriate PPIs Trial.

Click here to download slides COFRAIL (PDF)

Click here to download slides Deprescring PPIs (PDF)

Clinical outcomes of sedative deprescribing within RedUSe and implications for practice


Presented by: Dr. Daniel Hoyle

Hosted by: Australian Deprescribing Network

Date: March 28, 2023

Description: This session discussed the RedUSe study published in International Psychogeriatrics, with reference to more contemporary literature/clinical guidelines when discussing the implications of the findings.

Click here to download slides (PDF)


Initial findings from the iSIMPATHY project and experiences of implementation

Presented by: iSIMPATHY Project Team

Hosted by: European Society of Clinical Pharmacy

Date: Dec 1, 2022

Description: iSIMPATHY (implementing Stimulating Innovation in the Management of Polypharmacy and Adherence Through the Years) is an EU funded partnership between Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland delivering person-centred, pharmacist-led medication reviews across primary and secondary care. Click here to download slides (PDF)


The OPTIMIZE Trial: A Clinician’s Reflection on the Challenges of Deprescribing

Presented by: Louise Papillon-Ferland, B.Pharm., M.Sc.

Hosted by: Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network

Date: October 5, 2022

Description: This session presented key learnings from the OPTIMIZE trial and discussed enablers and barriers of deprescribing, as applied to real-life clinical cases.

Date: October 5, 2022

Click here to download slides (PDF)