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CMS has instructed Medicare Part D Rx drug plans that they must provide a 30-day supply of any drug a beneficiary was taking prior to Jan. 1 and that they must not charge poor beneficiaries more than $2 for covered generics or $5 for brands. Fearing political fallout from the rocky launch of its drug program, the Bush Administration is working to clear up snafus that have led at least 20 states to step in to pay for medications for Medicaid patients who were switched to Part D but were not listed on the rolls.

Pharmacists and physicians now have free access to Medicare Part D Rx plan formularies via their mobile devices or the Web, courtesy of Epocrates Inc.

The biggest institutional pharmacy (IP) in the country, Omnicare, bought up three rivals in 2005. Independent long-term care (LTC) pharmacists are uneasy, but Omnicare's customers, its chain rivals, and the Federal Trade Commission do not admit to having any qualms about the industry giant snapping up it its No. 2 competitor, NeighborCare.

A program using claims and refills data to identify diabetes patients who are adhering to their medication regimens but not lowering their blood glucose levels could lead to improved pharmacy care in 54,000 community pharmacies. "We are working to get pharmacy, medical, and lab claims data back to our pharmacists so they can utilize that information along with the refill data they have on hand," said Thom Stambaugh, R.Ph., chief pharmacy officer for Cigna Pharmacy Management, the pharmacy benefit management company for six million Cigna health plan members.

As Medicare Part D gets under way, attention has largely focused on the prescription drug benefits offered through stand-alone prescription drug plans, or PDPs. Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans (MA-PDPs) are an alternative that could provide seniors an opportunity to save on premiums and co-pays for hospital and doctor fees in addition to gaining a prescription drug benefit.

A few years ago, I was approached by a customer at the pharmacy for assistance in finding a specific product. I decided to go out on the sales floor in order to assist him.

Celgene Corp., Summit, N.J., recently received Food & Drug Administration approval for lenalidomide (Revlimid) for the treatment of patients with transfusion-dependent anemia due to low- or intermediate-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) associated with a deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities. MDS is a group of hematologic disorders in which the bone marrow does not function normally, producing immature cells that may result in anemia, neutropenia, and/or thrombocytopenia.

The Food & Drug Administration has approved abatacept (Orencia, Bristol-Myers Squibb) for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in patients with inadequate response to other therapies. Orencia is first in a new class of agents that inhibits T-lymphocyte activation by binding to CD80 and CD86, blocking the interaction with CD28.

TIPS TO REMEMBER, Vaprisol

The FDA has unveiled a major revision to its prescription druginformation format, commonly called the package insert. The changesinclude the following: Highlights, a section that will provideimmediate access to the most important prescribing informationabout benefits and risks; Table of Contents, for easy reference todetailed safety and efficacy information; the date of initialproduct approval; and a toll-free number and Internet reportinginformation for suspected adverse events. Commenting on the plan,Consumers Union said the proposal will make existing drug safetyand risk information clearer to physicians, but the new plan fallsshort of dramatically improving drug safety for consumers becauseit does not require better safety measures from drugmakers.