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Reimbursement for retail and mail-service pharmacy continues to decrease, according to the findings of the Prescription Drug Benefit Cost and Plan Design Survey Report, conducted by the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI). The average retail brand-drug dispensing fee decreased from $2.05 in 2003 to $1.95 in 2004.

H.D. Smith, the fourth largest national pharmaceutical wholesaler, was recently awarded a multiyear agreement with Novation, the healthcare contracting service organization, to provide members of VHA Inc. and University HealthSystem Consortium (HC) with H.D. Smith's extensive list of products and services.

A Palm Beach, Fla., woman is suing Walgreens on grounds that when she picked up a prescription for the sleep aid Ambien (zolpidem, Sanofi-Aventis), she found a message attached in the section reserved for patient information that said "Crazy!" The patient, Janey Karp, said the prescription also said, "She's really a psycho! Do not say her name too loud, never mention her meds by names, and try to talk to her when..." The information continued on to another page, which was not attached. Karp is suing for defamation, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Following reports of two fatalities in women who took mifepristone (Mifeprex, Danco Laboratories) to terminate their pregnancies, the FDA has issued a public health advisory to providers and patients. The agency said they are investigating the cases, but at this time are not certain of the exact cause of death.

A new monophasic oral contraceptive (OC) from Berlex Inc. may offer women less hormonal fluctuation between monthly cycles than traditional OCs. Yaz contains both 3 mg of drospirenone and 20 mcg ethinyl estradiol in a 24-day active pill regimen-a longer period of time than traditional OCs, which typically provide 21 days of hormone-containing tablets.

At the 2006 annual APhA meeting, information was released showing that pharmacists overestimate the number of interactions between drugs and grapefruit juice. A follow-up survey performed by KRC Research for the Florida Department of Citrus has found that while 50% more pharmacists are well informed regarding grapefruit juice interactions compared with the results of the initial 2002 survey, many pharmacists still need more specific information.

Just as pharmacists can get board-certified in certain specialties, technicians could show that they are trained to work in certain settings down the line. At present, there is only one Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam for technicians.

Not only more female but also more male pharmacists are practicing part-time. On top of that, more than 40% of male pharmacists are approaching retirement or are over the age of 55.

Already approved as a subcutaneous or intravenous infusion for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), treprostinil sodium (Remodulin, United Therapeutics) for injection has received expanded label approval from the FDA and can now also be used to diminish the rate of clinical deterioration in patients requiring transition from epoprostenol sodium (Flolan, GlaxoSmithKline). United Therapeutics said it has also successfully completed a phase IV postmarketing study as part of an FDA Subpart H accelerated approval requirement.

By reducing medication discrepancies, pharmacist counseling of and follow-up with hospitalized patients at discharge were associated with lower rates of preventable adverse drug events, according to a randomized study of 178 general medicine patients. The study appeared in the March 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

The Food & Drug Administration has been counting on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to be ready for widespread adoption next year, allowing drug product packages to be tagged with tiny chips containing an electronic product code or unique electronic serial number. Now the agency thinks that may not happen and is in a bit of a quandary.

The first in a new class of drugs, lubiprostone (Amitiza, Sucampo/Takeda) was approved by the Food & Drug Administration in late January for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation in the 33 million adults the condition is estimated to affect. It is responsible for 92,000 hospitalizations annually and is more common in women and in patients over the age of 65.

The first in a new class of drugs, lubiprostone (Amitiza, Sucampo/Takeda) was approved by the Food & Drug Administration in late January for the treatment of chronic idiopathic constipation in the 33 million adults the condition is estimated to affect. It is responsible for 92,000 hospitalizations annually and is more common in women and in patients over the age of 65.

Salix Pharmaceuticals is calling a recent report linking its bowel prep drug to kidney failure misleading. Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen had cited a study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology calling bowel-cleansing products containing sodium phosphate an ?underrecognized? cause of chronic kidney failure.

Andrx Corp. and Watson Pharmaceuticals have signed a definitive merger agreement providing for the acquisition of Andrx by Watson. Dates for closing the acquisition have not yet been determined.

The market for private-label OTC drugs is expected to reach $3.6 billion by 2010, according to a new study by Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com. The study found that private-label brands ate up 19.7% of the OTC market share in 2004, with sales topping $3.4 billion in 2005.

National Poison Prevention Week will be celebrated March 19-25. Congress created the observance in 1960 to educate the public about the dangers of the accidental poisoning of children.

NABP has partnered with Education Credential Evaluators (ECE) to evaluate the credentials of applicants for the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Committee Certificate Program. Beginning April 14, FPGEC applicants will have to submit their educational credential documents to ECE, a nonprofit public service organization

By reducing medication discrepancies, pharmacist counseling of and follow-up with hospitalized patients at discharge were associated with lower rates of preventable adverse drug events, according to a randomized study of 178 general medicine patients. The study appeared in the March 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

The FDA has approved new labeling for Supartz, an injectable form of hyaluronic acid that is used for the treatment of pain from osteoarthritis of the knee. New directions for use now allow physicians to choose as few as three intra-articular injections for a course of therapy, instead of the previously approved five weekly injections.

Both chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)- and hydrofluoroalkane (HFA)-containing albuterol metered-dose inhalers have been in short supply, according to an FDA announcement. While some manufacturers have had temporary supply shortages, other companies have maintained normal production.

A recent Supreme Court decision bolsters the argument for state regulation of drug compounding, according to the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists. The decision reaffirmed state jurisdiction in regulating the medical profession by rejecting DEA's position that federal law prohibits prescribing drugs under Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law.

RelayHealth has agreed to offer its consumer clients the ability to route new scripts and refill authorizations through the SureScripts Electronic Prescribing Network and to use the medication history services of community pharmacies. RelayHealth contends its eScript solution is the only on-line Rx and renewal service that includes consumers in the e-prescribing process.

The parents of a California teenaged debate champion who committed suicide seven weeks after getting fluoxetine on-line have sued the Web site, the prescribing doctor, and the pharmacy for negligence and wrongful death. The parents of John McKay allege that the 19-year-old ordered the anti-depressant from USAnet.com that a Colorado psychiatrist whose prescriptive authority was revoked wrote the Rx without examining him, and that a Mississippi-based community pharmacy dispensed the drug.

CVS has reported that the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission has started an informal inquiry into how it accounted for a barter transaction in 2000 that involved stuffed animals. The company's audit committee has determined that accounting for the 2000 transaction was incorrect, CVS said in a filing with the SEC.

Pharmacists are urged to complete an on-line poll about Medicare Part D being conducted by the National Council of State Pharmacy Association Executives and state pharmacy associations. The survey is being conducted to gauge the experience and concerns of pharmacists about Part D since its implementation.

People with lower-extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD) should get treatment, including pharmaceutical treatment, comparable to that for people with established coronary artery disease. That's according to new, comprehensive guidelines on PAD from the American Heart Association (AHA) and other medical groups.

A 58-year-old man, G.C., is hospitalized with an acute myocardialinfarction (MI). His physician has prescribed metoprolol, ramipril,warfarin, and atorvastatin (Lipitor, Pfizer), but is debatingwhether to continue G.C.'s bedtime chlorpromazine 400 mg, whichhe's taken for 20 years for schizophrenia, or switch to a newermedication. G.C. is showing signs of tardive dyskinesia (TD). Hisrecent records show normal fasting blood glucose levels. His BMI is22. He is a smoker. His physician asks your opinion aboutantipsychotic therapy. What do you recommend?

Small signs of resistance to imatinib (Gleevec, Novartis) emerged soon after the drug's approval in 2001 as the first oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). But second-generation drugs with similar mechanisms of action were already in the pipeline, according to studies presented at the recent 2005 ASH annual meeting, held in Atlanta. Generally about 20% of CML chronic-phase patients relapse after three years of imatinib therapy, researchers pointed out.

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