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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 It was just days after Vioxx (rofecoxib, Merck) had been withdrawn from the market.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.

Surgeons perform an estimated three million cataract surgeries annually in this country. To help reduce inflammation following ophthalmic surgery, eye care professionals commonly prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and corticosteroids.

The indications for Novo Nordisk's NovoLog (insulin aspart [rDNA origin]) injection have been expanded to include the treatment of diabetes in children. NovoLog was found to be safe and effective in patients aged two to 18 years who have diabetes. The rapid-acting insulin analog was approved in 2000 for use in adults.

Pharmacy colleges nationwide offer hurricane aid Walgreens launches exclusive line for women of color California R.Ph.s design consumer Rx booklet Florida pharmacy firm offers MTM Spanish fact sheets to help seniors take meds safely Hutchinson appointed to AIHC post Florida county to use in-house R.Ph. Brooks Eckerd to provide in-store nurse practitioner Parents unaware of diarrhea guidelines for kids Nevada approves seven Canadian pharmacies MTM programs save $1 million Walgreens expands senior pharmacy services

Wal-Mart and SAM's CLUB to host free diabetes screenings USW, NPhA form Pharmacists Council HHS looking for volunteers who want to help hurricane victims ACAM defends use of FDA-approved therapy CMS offers document on Medicare Rx drug coverage Medicare Today partnership: Rx plans will benefit beneficiaries Ten Canadian pharmacies apply to Nevada Mail order use declined, survey finds FDA wants clarity on conditions for dual Rx-to-OTC drug status Analyst positive about 2006 market Medi-Span adds to Rx info CMS readies Medicare provider satisfaction survey Follistim AQ adds 900-IU formulation to product linebr> New Jersey toughens Rx drug trafficking law New Alphagan formulation gets FDA nod Pharmacist personnel firms merge Get your genetic tests at these pharmacies

Osteoporosis is a result of a disproportionate rate of bone resorption compared with bone formation, which disrupts the structural integrity of bone. The most common type of osteoporosis occurs in postmenopausal women.

A new type of pharmacy benefit manager has sprung up, preaching transparent pricing. The ideal is to disclose ingredient and dispensing costs, rebates, discounts, and all other financial details to plan sponsors. Rebates, discounts, and other payments flow through to the sponsor. Administrative fees are the PBM's only revenue source.

Reactions throughout the health-system pharmacy community have been overwhelmingly favorable regarding the new federal legislation that would protect medical error information from being used against healthcare practitioners who report adverse events and medication errors.

Undoubtedly the public will be hearing much more about Medicare Part D as prescription drug plans (PDPs) are selected and begin promoting their programs. At least one group of people with Medicare already received preliminary information in mailings from the Social Security Administration (SSA): those with low incomes who may qualify for extra help with their out-of-pocket costs associated with the Medicare plans.

Many Type 2 diabetes patients also have a type of dyslipidemia characterized by elevated triglycerides and reduced levels of HDL cholesterol, with total and LDL cholesterol levels normal or elevated. Dual alpha/gamma PPARs (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors), or glitazars, not only activate PPAR-gamma (as the current glitazones do) but also target the PPAR-alpha to reduce triglyceride concentrations and enable HDL-C increases.

The first-ever guideline for the treatment of uncomplicated skin infections, produced in January of this year by a panel of six physicians with funding by Abbott Laboratories, is undergoing major revisions and may result in the production of several other algorithms for treatment by other medical specialists. So reported speakers at an Abbott-sponsored symposium in conjunction with the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) in Chicago.

The FDA has approved Tercica's Increlex (mecasermin [rDNA origin] injection) for the long-term treatment of growth failure in children with severe primary IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) deficiency (IGFD) or with growth hormone gene deletion who have developed neutralizing antibodies to growth hormone. Increlex is identical to IGF-1, the natural hormone produced in the body that has a broad range of activity central to growth and metabolism.

Hurricane displaces pharmacy students Wholesalers are meeting customer needs in New Orleans New Orleans hospitals forced to evacuate Most want DTC advertising banned for Rx drugs Albuminar recalled Indictments handed down on counterfeit Lipitor Tech firms partner for electronic health record Cholestyramine for oral suspension gets FDA nod FDA MedWatch issues warning for Trypan FDA recalls Medline alcohol-free mouthwash, hygiene kits

Hospitals are seeing the advent of a new generation of systems in the context of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) that are more user-friendly and yield a quicker return on investment (ROI). Several products have evolved in the marketplace. These products are called Paperless Pharmacy Order Systems (PPOSs). They provide a paperless environment in pharmacy and a work-flow engine between pharmacists and clinicians.

Insomnia, a common sleep disorder, affects more than 70 million Americans. According to the National Sleep Foundation's 2005 Sleep in America poll, about 75% of adults have experienced a symptom of a sleep problem a few nights a week or more in the past year.

Automation governs medication-dispensing systems in many health systems, enhancing safety and efficiency-as long as the computers that operate the systems don&t crash. A growing trend in automation aggressively addresses this problem by allowing vendors to remotely monitor automation computer servers in real time, preventing crashes before pharmacists even know there&s a problem.

Given that errors involving intravenous medications may carry the greatest risk of morbidity and mortality, health professionals are welcoming the advent of smart pumps with programmable safety features that alert hospital staff to potential errors in IV infusions. Implementing such systems involves getting technology vendors, along with pharmacy, nursing, and medical staffs, to communicate with each other so that infusion systems and medical records systems work together.

At Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Conn., the pharmacy department has been ahead of the technology curve for quite some time compared with most other hospitals. That's evident from a visit Drug Topics editors paid recently to the hospital.

Patients taking the blood-thinning medication warfarin have fewer complications when managed by a specialized anticoagulation service than do those who receive usual care from their physicians. That was a finding of a study conducted by Kaiser Permanente's Clinical Pharmacy Anticoagulation Service.

Of the 1,100 public hospitals that treat a disproportionately large share of indigent patients and that are eligible to participate in the federal government's 340B drug discount program, about 700 are not enrolled. This means that up to 63% of disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs) are not taking advantage of potential discounts.

Patients requiring immune globulin (IG) are finding the therapy difficult to acquire because of tightening supplies of the plasma-derived biologic and new, lower Medicare reimbursements, according to patient groups and industry analysts.

New guidelines for the management of heart transplant patients are coming from the International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation (ISHLT). "The last version of the currently advocated guidelines was approved in consensus form in 1992," said Mandeep Mehra, M.D., an ISHLT board member and the head of the division of cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. "Since that time, the management of congestive heart failure [CHF] has changed dramatically," he said.

A 75-year-old woman, G.D., is in the ER for chest pain that has now been diagnosed as heartburn. She is given lansoprazole (Prevacid, TAP) samples. Five months ago she had an acute myocardial infarction (MI) with stent placement. She was discharged on a daily regimen of clopidogrel (Plavix, Sanofi-Aventis) 75 mg, aspirin 80 mg, ezetimibe (Zetia, Merck/Schering-Plough) 10 mg, atorvastatin (Lipitor, Pfizer) 20 mg, sublingual nitroglycerin, metoprolol timed-release 50 mg, and valsartan (Diovan, Novartis) 160 mg.