Associations News

Pharmacy and medical groups are suing the California Department of Health Care Services and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ recent approval of a 10% reimbursement rate cut in California’s Medicaid program.

The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology Foundation have issued new guidelines for secondary prevention and risk reduction in patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease.

The NACDS lauded the U.S. Senate’s vote last week to defeat an amendment that would have allowed “personal importation” of prescription medications from Canada.

Community pharmacists? opposition to the proposed Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions merger was heard loud and clear during NCPA?s annual convention held last week in Nashville, Tenn.

Purdue Pharma and the NCPA premiered the third annual ?RxPATROL Pharmacy Safety and Security? video last week at NCPA?s annual convention in Nashville, Tenn.

Medicare Part B patients will suffer if diabetes testing supplies are subjected to competitive bidding prices, concluded a recent NCPA survey of more than 800 independent pharmacists.

Ralph Neas, former president and CEO of the National Coalition on Health Care, has been named the new president and CEO of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

Scott Pelley, CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor, will be the keynote speaker for the 13th Annual NACDS Foundation Dinner in November.

The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy recently appointed Edith Rosato, RPh, as its new CEO.

The National Community Pharmacists Association is joining forces with GeriMed to support long-term-care pharmacies.

Annual flu vaccines are the best way to protect children from life-threatening pneumonia, according to new guidelines from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Disease Society of America.

This year?s annual meeting of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy taking place October 16 through October 19 in Pittsburgh, Pa., will offer several sessions in 3 different curricular tracks.

Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association will hold a ?Future Pharmacy Owner Workshop? September 24 at the Crowne Plaza Valley Forge in King of Prussia, Penn., for chain employees as well as for phamacists in any setting, including new practitioners and student pharmacists interested in pharmacy ownership. The workshop is being held in conjunction with the association's annual conference.

Pharmacy and dental organizations are uniting to promote oral health and raise public awareness of dry mouth, a side effect commonly caused by taking prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Soon after a report revealed an average 650% markup on "gray-market" drugs, which are used when there is a shortage of other drugs, U.S. senators called for an FDA hearing on drug shortages.

Pharmacy benefit managers should be required to be more transparent in health insurance exchanges, the National Community Pharmacists Association asserted in comments recently submitted to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general, recently recognized the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and other organizations for their participation in the annual National Influenza Vaccine Summit.

Retail pharmacy groups criticized a new study suggesting that adherence to oral antidiabetic medications improves when patients use mail-order pharmacies.

The California Pharmacists Association is launching what may be the nation's first ombudsman program run through a professional association.

A new flat, rectangular pill container may render obsolete the traditional round plastic vials and bottles used throughout the healthcare industry.

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is accepting nominations for its annual profession-wide awards and honors. The awards will be presented at the APhA Annual Meeting and Exposition in New Orleans, March 9-12, 2012. The awards represent the pharmacy profession?s most comprehensive recognition program.

Pharmacies can play a valuable role in helping patients prepare for the upcoming flu season. That includes administering influenza vaccinations, according to results of a public-private partnership campaign in Palm Beach, Fla. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores highlighted the results of the partnership in a report it co-authored that was published in the September/October issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.

A new campaign and white paper from the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association that blasts the ?drugstore lobby? is riddled with mistakes and misleading statements, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association.

As pharmacy groups protest the massive pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) merger of Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions, a new survey demonstrates the impact of PBMs on pharmacy businesses.

While Medicare and Medicaid were exempted from budget cuts in the initial debt agreement reached by the U.S. House and Senate this week, they could be up for cuts later this year.

The Independent Specialty Pharmacy Coalition, a group of community-based specialty pharmacies, called on the Federal Trade Commission to block Express Scripts? proposed acquisition of Medco.

Federal regulators should take the lead in creating a national system to keep tabs on chronic diseases and provide guidance for stakeholders across the country, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) announced.

If the U.S. Congress fails to reach a consensus on the deficit issue by August 2, there could be significant impact on Medicare and other federal programs, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores announced today.

Opponents of a controversial Change Request initiated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services aired their views to CMS officials earlier this week.

CVS Caremark, the National Community Pharmacists Association, and several healthcare groups are supporting a new bill that would allow patients to purchase OTC medications through flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs).