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When patients present valid prescriptions for controlled medications and pharmacists refuse to dispense, the patients have options. And the ADA is just the beginning.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) has requested pharmacists in all settings complete the NAPLEX pharmacy practice analysis survey.

FDA will not be approving 108 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) for prescription medications that contain more than 325 mg of acetaminophen, according to a March 27th Federal Register notice.

Sandoz this week introduced its calcipotriene and betamethasone dipropionate ointment in the United States. It will be the first generic version of Leo Pharma’s Taclonex ointment in the market.

That’s the charge being made by a government watchdog group and a labor federation, which alleges that the Indiana Board of Pharmacy in 2011 approved Walgreens’ new pharmacy design with the help of the former board president who is employed by the drug chain.

FDA has approved non-prescription esomeprazole 20mg (Nexium 24HR, Pfizer).

Poor transitions in care cost the U.S. healthcare system $45 billion in 2011. Of the 1.5 million medication errors that harm patients each year, approximately 60% occur during transitions of care, according to Stephanie Kleyman, PharmD, who spoke about opportunities for pharmacists in transitions of care at the 2014 American Pharmacists Association annual meeting in Orlando.

During the American Pharmacists Association’s annual meeting in Orlando last weekend, the leadership called on its members to advocate for provider status and expanded scope of practice.

The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Foundation, with its partner PrescribeWellness, is offering community pharmacies new tools to help diabetes patients manage their disease and health, according to an announcement from the APhA annual meeting in Orlando.

ASHP, ISMP, AHA, and other stakeholders have developed a list of long-term strategies to address drug shortages and released their recommendations in a new report.

A coalition of groups that includes the NAACP and Amnesty International is urging the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) to ban its members from making compound drugs used in lethal-injection executions.

State and national pharmacy groups are rallying behind two proposed bills they believe would provide transparency in drug reimbursements while limiting the auditing practices of pharmacy benefit managers.

Specialty drug pricing and generic drug pricing, especially around single-source generics during their exclusivity period, should be on the radar screens of hospital and managed care decision-makers, according to Catamaran’s 2013 Drug Trend data, which represents 25 million consumers.

Chronically ill adults don’t have consistent access to food due to lack of financial stability were significantly more likely to report cost-related medication underuse, according to a new study published in The American Journal of Medicine. Cost-related medication underuse refers to taking less medication than prescribed, or not taking it at all because of financial concerns.

More than a decade after the clinical battle began with community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), physicians are still trying to figure out how to diagnose, treat, and prevent this virulent form of staph infection, which is immune to many antibiotics.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is accepting public comments until April 3 on its new hepatitis C screening guidelines.

Here's what thousands of your fellow pharmacists were reading this month at Drug Topics

Walgreens plans to close 76 of its drugstores nationwide between April and August 2014, which amounts to less than 2% of its stores, due to store density and non-optimal real estate, Walgreens President and CEO Greg Wasson, said during a conference call on March 25.

Why has one Costco pharmacy in West Sacramento, California consistently bought more hydrocodone than any other pharmacy in that state?

There are many untapped opportunities for hospital pharmacies to boost their bottom lines, including expanding their services and capturing more reimbursements, according to Mary Baxter, RPh, vice president and national practice leader for Cardinal Health’s Innovation Delivery Solutions business.

Influenza, zoster, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and the diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis adsorbed (DTaP) are among the most common vaccines involved in medication errors in the United States, according to a new report from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP).

Remember Goose Rawlings’ story in the February issue of Drug Topics, the one about the young pharm school graduate who thought older pharmacists should step aside and leave their jobs to new PharmDs? Boy, did we get mail.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights has launched an investigation into alleged patient- privacy violations at Walgreens, following complaints that chain’s new pharmacy design is putting sensitive patient information at risk, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Barry Bryant is owner of Barney's Pharmacy in Augusta, Ga. He and his clinical pharmacy educator, Jake Galdo, discuss some of the ways this new technology can be used in the pharmacy.

Phase 3 clinical trial data demonstrate tiotropium’s potential benefit as an add-on treatment for asthma patients.

When used in conjunction with conventional blood clot prevention therapies, statins significantly reduced the risk for venous thromboembolic (VTE) events following total joint replacement (TJR) surgery, according to research presented recently at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).

FDA has approved once-daily topiramate extended-release capsules for initial monotherapy to treat partial-onset or primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures.

Bringing a new tool to the arsenal of medications to treat type 2 diabetes, FDA recently approved the only once-weekly injectable pen for adults with type 2 diabetes-exenatide extended-release for injectable suspension (AstraZeneca, Bydureon Pen).

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) prescriptions for U.S. adults have more than doubled from 2008 to 2012, according to a report by Express Scripts.

Benzodiazepines and opioid medications have dangerous synergistic effects. The use of both has climbed in the last decade, and so has co-prescription.