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It was a challenging year for supermarket pharmacies, according to the latest findings of the "2005 Supermarket Pharmacy Trends Survey" by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI). Here are some of the highlights of the survey.

Have you always assumed a drug product marketed without a proprietary (brand) name to be a generic drug? If your answer is Yes, you may have inadvertently substituted and dispensed products that are not therapeutically equivalent. For example, the drug product albuterol sulfate HFA, manufactured by IVAX, was approved without a proprietary name on Oct. 29, 2004, under NDA 21-457. Since the IVAX albuterol sulfate HFA product is labeled with only the established (generic) name, one could easily assume this is a generic version of one of the other two currently marketed albuterol sulfate HFA products: Proventil HFA and Ventolin HFA.

ASHP waives dues for members affected by hurricanes CVS outlines Medicare 2006 strategic plan Walgreens helps seniors understand Medicare Rx plan WellPoint, Walgreens to serve Medicare beneficiaries Epilepsy group issues call to action to reduce birth defects Walgreens to acquire Schraft's specialty pharmacy Pfizer provides access to clinical trial information CIGNA, Duane Reade to market Medicare Part D plans Walgreens Wellness tour kicks off in Atlanta Medicare booklet errs on Rx plans CARE Pharmacies offer diabetes days Most think Vioxx verdict too tough on Merck Legal issues stall Nevada Rx imports R.Ph. buys tablet counting technology firm CVS/pharmacy promoting patient-R.Ph. relationship Maine's Rx discount program saves more than Ohio's ADHD drug safe for kids, adults cautioned FDA selects groups to help track drug safety ISMP's Cohen to use grant to fund med-error prevention

An abrupt change in the Drug Enforcement Administration's stance on serial prescribing of Schedule II controlled substances has stirred fear among pharmacists and compromised patient care, according to pharmacy leaders.

Osteoporosis: Exploring its many causes and treatment options. Supported by an educational grant from Eli Lilly and Co.

MedManage Systems launches third generation online sampling service Y-ME partners with Walgreens in 'Pass It On' promotion New Jersey to expand discount drug program Dynavax introduces Tolamba and Heplisav Walgreens Home Care announces contract with PHCS Web site offers Medicare Rx information Web tool estimates Medicare Rx costs APP recalls fluorouracil 10-ml vials R.Ph. arrested in Net Rx drug bust DrugMax expands Worksite Pharmacy business VA drug program cheaper than Medicare? MinuteClinic opens at seven CVS stores in Indianapolis

Last month, in an effort to make it easier for health professionals to identify and treat patients with heavy drinking and alcohol-use disorders, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) released Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much: A Clinician's Guide. One major difference in the 2005 guide, which replaces an earlier 2003 version, is the recommendation that medications be considered in addition to traditional therapies as part of the treatment process.

Pharmacists in the spotlight Walgreens acquires Theragran-M multivitamins Illinois charges nondispensing pharmacies Massachusetts lawmakers override EC veto HealthTrans, N.Y. chain to offer PBM services McKesson helps Costco expand with central fill GAO study compares AMP, AWP, U&C prices FDA to hold DTC advertising hearing Oncologists value off-label Rx use Display firm debuts behind-the-counter system PBM settles kickback suit for $137 million NAMS reviews testosterone therapy for women Will skyrocketing gas prices affect pharmacies?

Where there is crisis, there is also opportunity, and one Wichita, Kan., pharmacist sees plenty of that. Only a handful of Kansas hospitals can afford 24-hour pharmacy service. "Once the day-shift pharmacist goes home, many hospitals have a tech or a nurse taking over," Mark Gagnon said. "They don't want to do the pharmacist's job, but what do you do when there's no pharmacist until tomorrow or even next Monday?"

Mercy Hospital, Miami, Fla., is using discounted Rxs to lure patients into a preventive healthcare program. The hospital estimates that 4,000 patients saved an average of $140 for the 10,000 program prescriptions filled during the first quarter of 2005.

The individual stories of bravery and perseverance exhibited by pharmacists in the hours and days following the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans are too numerous to document. Pharmacists of all stripes went above and beyond their duty to provide succor to the victims.

Significant deviations from good manufacturing processes in repackaging and relabeling active pharmaceutical ingredients are what the Food & Drug Administration cited in a letter sent to Pragmatic Materials Inc. in June. During site visits in February, the agency found that the company, which repackages ingredients for use by pharmacies for compounding drug products, had not performed the appropriate tests to support the expiration dates assigned to at least six ingredients. Violations such as these can ignite fear and concern in hospital pharmacists and administrators who are outsourcing their sterile or nonsterile products to compounders to save staff time, cut hospital costs, and comply with new regulations.

CMS. HQA. ASHP. Leapfrog Group. NQF. JCAHO. AHQA. VA. AHRQ. The list of regulators, professional associations, government agencies, payers, consumer groups, and others that claim to set standards for health care seems to grow daily. Every new standard, every new information request, every new effort to assess or improve quality adds to the hospital administrative burden.

Hospitals and pharmacies will be adding radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in the years ahead to curb drug counterfeiting. What is RFID? According to the Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility (AIM), a basic radio frequency identification, or RFID, system consists of three components: an antenna or coil, a transceiver (with decoder), and a transponder, which is also called an RF tag and is electronically programmed with unique information.

Many wonder whether the focus of genetically directed pharmacotherapy should be tied to race at all. According to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, race and ethnicity cannot be given precise biological or genetic definitions because of the considerable genetic variation within population groups depending on the patient's place of birth and other variables.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to change the way it pays for drugs administered by hospital outpatient services. Starting in 2006, CMS proposes to pay hospitals the average sales price (ASP) plus 8% under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS).

Beta-blockers are the top choice for prevention of postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) and control of ventricular rate, according to the first evidence-based clinical guidelines for the prevention and management of postoperative AF after cardiac surgery, published recently by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP).

Heart failure (HF) is a major health problem and a leading cause of hospitalizations among the elderly. Keeping pace with the new treatment approaches, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) task force recently released updated Guidelines for the Diagnosis and the Management of Chronic Heart Failure in the Adult.

Several articles, published over the past several years, have demonstrated the benefit of clinical pharmacy rounding in intensive care units. Benefits documented include improved quality of care as well as cost savings to the institutions. Our health system recently added clinical pharmacists to patient rounding and found that it has improved our patients' outcomes.

Community pharmacists, beware. Congress is considering ways to reduce Medicaid spending. The goal is to save $10 billion over the next five years. Among the pharmacy product payment options Congress is evaluating are average selling price (ASP), average manufacturers' price (AMP), and wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) to replace average wholesale price (AWP), which many think has been responsible for Medicaid overpaying for Rx drugs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published a proposed rule in the Aug. 15 Federal Register that would require long-term care (LTC) facilities to vaccinate all residents against influenza and pneumococcal disease as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid.

Picture this scenario. A patient goes into a chain pharmacy, walks over to a kiosk, touches a bull's eye on a screen and is instantly connected with a pharmacy technician. They can see and hear each other, thanks to interactive video conferencing. The patient fills a new prescription, receives counseling from pharmacy staff, and orders OTC products. The order can be picked up at any of the chain's stores, or the items can be delivered free of charge.

CMS is pursuing changes in the durable medical equipment (DME) benefit under the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) that will have a profound effect on the way beneficiaries receive services and the way pharmacies and other DME suppliers provide those services. Laurence Wilson, director of the Chronic Care Policy Group for CMS' Center for Medicare Management, delivered this message to attendees of the National Association of Chain Drugstores Pharmacy and Technology Conference held recently in San Diego.

Beginning Oct. 13, Medicare beneficiaries and pharmacists trying to help them can go to a Web site to compare the devilish details in the prescription drug plans that will be offered in their area.

I was questioned by a doctor when he prescribed Bextra (valdecoxib, Pfizer). It was just days after Vioxx (rofecoxib, Merck) had been withdrawn from the market. I told his patient that Bextra and Vioxx were members of the same family.

Pharmacists and potential plan sponsors finally got the ground rules from Uncle Sam on how they can market prescription drug plans (PDPs) to Medicare beneficiaries, who can begin enrolling in Part D on Nov. 15.

Advances in delivery systems for gonadotropins, and specifically the pen/cartridge delivery system for FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), were the focus of "Managing Great Expectations," a recent program on infertility held in New York City. Sponsored by Organon USA, a division of Akzo Nobel, the event included presentations by Steven D. Spandorfer, M.D., a reproductive endocrinologist affiliated with Cornell University, and Judy Kuriansky, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist.

Last month, in an effort to make it easier for health professionals to identify and treat patients with heavy drinking and alcohol-use disorders, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) released Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much: A Clinician's Guide. One major difference in the 2005 guide, which replaces an earlier 2003 version, is the recommendation that medications be considered in addition to traditional therapies as part of the treatment process.