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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.

CVS Caremark Corp. faces as much as $29 million in fines associated with 37,000 prescription painkillers that are missing from four of its California stores, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

The high risk of bleeding in patients taking the anticoagulant dabigatran (Pradaxa) has been a major problem that the manufacturer and health experts have been trying to find solutions for over the last four years. Sixteen percent of patients experienced a bleed in one year, including 3.3% who had bleeds that required emergency medical treatment, according to one clinical trial.

As pharmaceutical manufacturers and other life sciences companies cut back their budgets, they are looking for technological solutions.

The National Community Pharmacists Association is asking Iowa’s Gov. Terry Branstad to sign into law H.F. 2297 legislation that would provide a level of transparency for how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) determine reimbursement for multiple source generic drugs. The legislation would give the insurance commissioner authority to request information from PBMs in Iowa, according to a March 11 letter from NCPA to the governor.

The St. Louis College of Pharmacy has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for shooting and killing one of its pharmacy students.

After pleading guilty to unlawful importation of drugs, a San Diego pharmacist has been ordered to repay Medicare $1 million.William Burdine, 65, owner of the Alvarado Medical Plaza Pharmacy in San Diego, was also sentenced to eight months of home confinement, 240 hours of community service, five years of probation, and a $10,000 fine.

A penicillin "allergy" label adversely affects the quantity and quality of healthcare in hospitalized patients, a new study reports.

E-cigarette use recently doubled among teens, and these teens are also smoking conventional cigarettes.

The message for U.S. pharmacies and pharmacy chains: Follow the lead of CVS Caremark and halt pharmacy tobacco sales.

They shot back: Responses to Goose Rawlings' "They shoot horses, don't they?"

Some basic facts on prediabetes and lifestyle choices that will empower pharmacy patients.