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Reaction from healthcare practitioners to the U.S. Surgeon General's recent report on fractures related to osteoporosis has been swift and generally supportive of the report's conclusions. The landmark report stated that, by 2020, one-half of all Americans older than 50 will be at increased risk for fractures from osteoporosis and low bone mass if greater measures aren't taken to improve overall bone health.

For well over a decade, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been considered the first-line treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. In 2003, U.S. sales of the five delayed-release PPI brands totaled $12.9 billion, with total U.S. prescriptions for PPIs growing 10%, from 86.3 million in 2002 to 95.2 million in 2003, according to IMS Health.

According to Information Resources Inc. (IRI), sales of Home Health Care Kits, including blood glucose monitors, grew 2.7% to $677 million over the 52-week period ending April 19, 2004. Simultaneously, all outlets--drug, food, and mass-merchandising--posted sales gains. Increasing 6%, food outlets outpaced the other two retailers.

More than 4,000 chain pharmacist positions were open as of July 1, according to a National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation survey that's been conducted every six months since February 1998

Labeling revised to show orlistat reduces Type 2 diabetes risk

Parcopa (Schwarz Pharma) treats symptoms of Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism, such as shaking, stiffness, and slow movement.

The Food & Drug Administration has created a conundrum for short children, their parents, pharmacists, and pediatricians. The agency approved the use of human growth hormone (somatropin recombinant, Humatrope, Eli Lilly) in June 2003 to treat idiopathic shortness. But instead of clarifying which children should be treated for short stature, the FDA may have opened the door to abuse.

Tens of millions of people in the United States are affected by pain, which is associated with a variety of effects that can destroy the pain sufferer's quality of life. Treating and controlling pain is a primary concern for all members of a healthcare team. Despite the attention given to the association of opioids with drug abuse, consensus statements from experts support the use of these products to treat chronic pain. And soon a new opioid will be available for sufferers of chronic, persistent pain.

To prevent the administration of excessive amounts of analgesia medication, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps offer several safety features (e.g., a "lockout interval" specifies both the minimum amount of time between each dose and an established maximum allowable amount of drug during a predefined time period). Despite such advantages, medication errors involving PCA pumps continue to occur.

A pilot project examining the value of incorporating electronically transmitted patient claims data into a health-system medication dispensing process has been pronounced a success by the hospital that implemented it.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has begun a study to examine the types of counseling hospitals offer patients to help them quit smoking. The goal of the study is to identify and evaluate strategies hospitals can use to help patients who smoke to kick the habit.

Institutional pharmacists should get ready for more intensive scrutiny of their operations next year. Half of the 2005 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) set by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations are directly related to pharmacy.

A fully automated pharmacy logistics system for oral solid medications that is capable of unit-packaging and single-dose bar-coding can cost less than $500,000, improve patient safety, and pay for itself in under two years through tight inventory control. So claim the distributors of one such system and some of its clients.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices celebrates its 10th anniversary as a nonprofit organization this year. ISMP was established to educate the healthcare community about safe medication practices in order to reduce the threat of medication errors. The institute is also involved in a wide range of projects and services, including publishing medication safety newsletters, holding educational conferences, and providing on-site consulting to hospitals. ISMP has advo-cated for improvements in drug names, labeling, packaging, technology, and medication practices to reduce the risk of medication errors.

The Medicare quality improvement organization (QIO) IPRO in Lake Success, N.Y., has contacted 22 hospitals in downstate New York to learn what the facilities have been doing to reduce their rate of surgical site infections. It found that assertive action by health-system pharmacists has enhanced patient safety by improving the timeliness of antibiotic prophylaxis.

In 2004, one of the National Patient Safety Goals released by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations focused on improving safety when using high-alert medications, such as paralytic agents.

In an attempt to help more nursing home patients take advantage of the Medicare drug discount card program, Community Care Rx has sweetened the reimbursement deal for participating long-term care pharmacists.

As he has been doing for years, Richard Peters, R.Ph., pharmacy manager of Glen Raven Pharmacy in Burlington, N.C., arrived at work early to prepare for the day ahead. Imagine his surprise when he reads the daily blogs on his Internet home page on Sept. 30 and learns of the voluntary withdrawal of the blockbuster arthritis drug rofecoxib (Vioxx, Merck), from U.S. and worldwide markets. By 9:05 am the calls start pouring in from panicked customers. "What's this about Vioxx?" "What's going to happen to me? I've been taking Vioxx for so long!"

Black box warnings to be added to all antidepressants

Methadone is the latest chronic pain medication to be called a killer. The New York Times, National Public Radio, and other media outlets point to a growing death toll involving methadone. So do a handful of state pharmacy boards.

Cholesterol is one of the hottest health topics this year. Almost everybody—from healthcare professionals to patients to drug companies to politicians—has been talking about it.

A Food & Drug Administration advisory panel has recommended black-box alerts for commonly used antidepressants, warning that the drugs increase the risk of suicide when used in children and adolescents.

The popular PBS television series, "History Detectives," has raised awareness of the challenges of documenting oral history. Pharmacy's own history detective, A. Jean Matuszak, can attest to the satisfaction of solving some mysteries from the past.

Has one pharmacy employee ever improperly shared his or her password with another employee? Do any of your patient profiles incorrectly reflect a pharmacist's initials as the dispenser of a prescription because the R.Ph. did not "log off" before leaving the Rx department?

With drug counterfeiting growing at an alarming rate both in the United States and abroad, it was appropriate that this subject was addressed at the recent Federation Internationale Pharmaceutique (FIP) annual meeting, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress 2004, held in New Orleans. FIP is a worldwide organization of national professional associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.

With drug counterfeiting growing at an alarming rate both in the United States and abroad, it was appropriate that this subject was addressed at the recent Federation Internationale Pharmaceutique (FIP) annual meeting, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress 2004, held in New Orleans. FIP is a worldwide organization of national professional associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.

On Aug. 30, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations posted a new look-alike/sound-alike drug list data file on its 2005 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) Web page. This is a list selected after a review of error report descriptions received by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) and the United States Pharmacopoeia and other previously published lists.

Unless you've been living under a rock, as a healthcare professional, you must have heard something about the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. The first phase is already in full swing, with seniors selecting from a plethora of discount cards.

The prairie stone is a rock that is indigenous to Minnesota, and it is also the stone used to create the mortar and pestle. So when it came to naming their new Minneapolis-based pharmacy chain, the company's three partners found it a no-brainer. They dubbed it PrairieStone Pharmacy.

In 2003, more than 3.2 billion prescriptions were filled; that's an increase of more than 65% since 1992. This good news comes from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation's recently released 2004 Chain Pharmacy Industry Profile.