Clinical News

AmeriHealth offers free one-month generic samples

Because so many questions remain about what medication therapy management claims processing should look like, NCPDP held a meeting last month to consider whether it should set up a work group to address these issues.

The Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board has a new man at the top. It's Tom Murry from North Carolina. Like his predecessor Ken Baker, Murry is both a pharmacist and lawyer by training.

Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah has introduced a generic drug plan to be used for antidepressants. Beginning next month, Regence said it will need prior authorization before filling prescriptions for some brand-name drugs.

Many hospitals have instituted paper-based systems to capture inpatient prescription information to avoid adverse drug events, but one community-based hospital has gone a step further to adopt an automated medication reconciliation program. Fauquier Health System in northern Virginia is currently testing a pilot system that electronically provides the hospital staff with a patient's medication history.

A 65-year-old male patient refuses to continue rosiglitazone / metformin due to recent media coverage of safety issues.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network recently updated its guidelines for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma to include new therapeutic options, as well as changes to diagnostic criteria and staging.

Prevalence of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSAs) in U.S. healthcare facilities is 8 to 11 times greater than previous estimates.

The Joint Commission's recently announced 2008 National Patient Safety Goals include a new requirement to reduce risks associated with anticoagulant therapy.

Community pharmacies are smarting over a proposed rule by HHS that will help limit the Medicare program's risk by requiring all suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) to provide CMS with a surety bond.

HealthSpring is adding medication therapy management services to its national Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, beginning in January 2008.

The United States Pharmacopeia is finalizing revisions to Chapter 797 on sterile compounding for release this summer. The updated chapter will be released in two parts.

For patients with Lyme disease whose symptoms linger after the active infection has already been treated, continued and prolonged use of antibiotics is not effective and can lead to the development of resistance. This is just one of the new recommendations from the American Academy of Neurology's recently issued treatment guideline.

In effort to improve H. pylori eradication rates, Axcan Pharma has harnessed the power of three drugs known to have antimicrobial effects and combined them into a novel 3-in-1 formulation. Marketed under the trade name Pylera, the new product contains 140 mg bismuth subcitrate potassium, 125 mg metronidazole, and 125 mg tetracycline in each capsule. Pylera is indicated for use in combination with omeprazole for treating H. pylori infection and duodenal ulcer disease.

At the recent Pharmaceutical Care Management Association symposium, David Snow (Medco Health Solutions) told the audience why now is the time to push for a pathway for biogeneric drugs.

Do authorized generics stifle competition? Prasco and PhRMA have come out with white papers on the subject of authorized generics and the writer examines the subject.

This article for the generics II supplement examines mergers and acquisitions as well as which brand patents are expiring.

This story covers which generic companies are making gains.

This article examines and explains the proposed legislation that will end the practice of allowing brand name drug companies to pay makers of generic drugs to delay the release of the cheaper prescription drugs into the market.

This article examines generic dispensing rates and reveals which organizations have the highest dispensing rates.

This article tackles whether generic substitution should be banned for antiepileptic drugs. More states have introduced such legislation, raising concerns.

This article examines the dropping of copays by insurance plans for generics and the link to increased patient compliance.

Insurers cut back on coverage of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

Skin cancer diagnoses are on the rise with more than one million cases of skin cancer diagnosed in the U.S. this year. But despite the statistics, only a handful of late-stage agents remain in development for metastatic melanoma.

Insurers cut back on coverage of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.

HealthMatics ED system is a software application that automates an emergency department, from patient tracking to clinical documentation.

Smart pumps must be part of a smart system to actually boost patient safety and improve outcomes.

Inviro Medical Devices has introduced an integral write-on stripe, Invirostripe, to its complete line of manually retractable InviroSNAP! safety syringes.

Aromatherapy is a complementary and alternative medicine offering patients of a large Indianapolis health system some relief from the stress associated with chronic illnesses, including cancer, and women's health issues.

ASHP had devloped a draft of proposals to Joint Commission.