Chain Pharmacy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Saphris tablets to treat adults with schizophrenia, and bipolar I disorder in adults.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration published two rules recently to help clarify how very ill patients can obtain access to investigational drugs and biologics when they are not eligible to participate in a clinical trial and have no other satisfactory treatment options.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association are moving ahead with their lawsuit against Delaware's changes to Medicaid reimbursement rates, even after Walgreen Co. said it no longer supports the suit.

A Miami resident has been convicted of both conspiring to divert human growth hormones and causing the diversion of these human growth hormones in interstate commerce.

Cardinal Health has agreed to acquire the assets of privately held Biotech, an operator of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) cyclotrons and nuclear pharmacies in the southwestern United States.

In Illinois, the Jewel-Osco grocery-pharmacy chain has taken on pharmacy consulting and dispensing services for Passages Hospice.

A new study by Prescription Solutions and UnitedHealth Group says that Americans have been slow to embrace the use of generic drugs.

Tomorrow's pharmacists and pharmacies will need to find ways to increase profit margins by reducing the cost of prescribing, embracing technology, and focusing more on patient counseling, immunizations, education, and other offshoots of their clinical expertise.

A new study finds that drugstores using loyalty rewards programs will see sales continue to increase despite the poor economy.

The death of a teenager led Congress to pass the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act in 2008, amending the Controlled Substances Act to prohibit delivery, distribution, or dispensing of controlled substances over the Internet without a valid prescription.

Alaska's first Walgreens drugstore will feature the only 24-hour pharmacy in the state.

Only one Medicare Part D prescription plan operates in partnership with pharmacists: Community CCRx, which offers incentives for generic dispensing, therapy management, and maintenance supply fills. More than 63,000 pharmacies across the country participate in the program, including all major chains and community pharmacies.

The FTC has extended to November the compliance deadline for its "Red Flag" identity theft regulation, affecting all businessess that extend credit to customers.

Iowa proponents have sought legalization of medical marijuana for years. Now the state?s Board of Pharmacy Examiners (IBPE) wants to learn more about the issue.

As the American population is aging, so are retail pharmacy owners. In light of this reality, it is in the best interest of pharmacists and pharmacy owners to have a succession plan in place when they retire or prepare to sell their businesses, said Robert Wilbur, PharmD, pharmacy specialist with The Healthcare Acquisitions Group, Coral Gables, Fla., addressing attendees at the recent McKesson?s Pharmacy Strategies Conference in Orlando, Fla.

The California State Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment recently held an informational hearing on the subject of workplace conditions in retail pharmacies. Among those testifying were pharmacists, academics, students, consumer advocates, and representatives of the California Retailers Association.

Orlando, Fla.--Pharmacists can collaborate with physicians and other health professionals in many ways, including through drug therapy management programs, pharmacy vaccine programs, and practice agreements, to build revenue streams and improve patient outcomes.

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) is still working to urge Congress to exempt community pharmacies from the Oct. 1 accreditation and surety bond requirements needed to continue providing durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) to Medicare patients.

On July 23, Eli Lilly and Company announced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new use for its osteoporosis drug FORTEO to treat osteoporosis associated with sustained, systemic glucocorticoid therapy in men and women at high risk of fracture.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that it has approved a vaccine for 2009-2010 seasonal influenza in the United States.

Earlier this week at the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) in Boston, Mass., teams of pharmacy students from three universities were named as finalists in the Pruitt-Schutte Student Business Plan Competition sponsored by the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA).

Orlando, Fla.? National health care reform and the growth of generic drugs were the top issues noted by McKesson U.S. Pharmaceutical executives during this week's pharmacy strategies conference here.

Carolyn Brackett, PharmD, Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy at Ohio State University?s College of Pharmacy believes it?s possible to bring more humanity and human-to-human interaction to pharmacy ? regardless of the area in which they practice.

On July 20, Steven C. Anderson, president and chief executive officer of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), sent a letter to political leaders regarding the America's Affordable Health Choices Act.

Congress gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) jurisdiction over tobacco in June, but don?t look for any quick changes in tobacco policy, products, or marketing. The agency is asking the public for guidance before jumping into regulation.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Multaq 400 mg tablets to help maintain normal heart rhythms in patients with a history of atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it is requiring manufacturers to put a boxed warning on the prescribing information for the smoking cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban.

So what is actually happening behind the retail counter? To get an idea, Drug Topics took a brief, unscientific survey of individual community pharmacists. All the respondents felt that pharmacist counseling reduces medication errors.

As of June 2009, it appears that North Carolina remains the only state to require any consistent public reporting of pharmacy-associated medication errors. In North Carolina, pharmacists must report errors associated with deaths.

All retail/community pharmacies assert that medication safety is their first priority. Here's an example of what one pharmacy chain is doing about it.