Community Practice

Collaborative practice agreements between physicians and pharmacists will be a reality in Pennsylvania within the next couple of years.

A survey of new Rx, new generic, and new OTC products

San Francisco had the right idea when it banned the sale of tobacco in pharmacies. Then it turned around and allowed the sale in grocery stores and big-box stores. Wal-Mart and Safeway have pharmacies, and they keep on selling cigarettes. Forcing drugstores to take the high road is a lost cause.

The Washington State Board of Pharmacy is revisiting its rules requiring pharmacists to dispense emergency contraceptives.

In a novel collaboration with PBM giant CVS Caremark and its specialty pharmacy Generation Health, PGXL Laboratories will use its expertise in anticoagulants to improve the quality of patient care through pharmacogenetic testing, physician education, and drug-specific software programs.

While genetic testing can identify patients who will be nonresponsive to certain drug therapies, it can also suggest other drugs as treatment options that might work. These may include pharmaceuticals not usually considered for treatment of a particular cancer.

Generic manufacturers and consumer budgets are the big winners in the ongoing voluntary recall of millions of packages of pediatric liquid medications manufactured by McNeil Consumer Healthcare.

The North Dakota secretary of state rejected thousands of signatures from a petition that would have put a measure on the November ballot to end the state?s restrictions on pharmacy ownership, the Associated Press reported.

FDA approved increasing the length of therapy with Valcyte (valganciclovir hydrochloride) in adult kidney-transplant patients at high risk for cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease, according to an Aug. 10 statement made by Genentech Inc.

Infections with the deadly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria contracted in hospitals and other healthcare settings have declined 28% over a 4-year period, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study of about 15 million people.

In the first week of August, the Senate unanimously passed the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act (S. 3397) to provide for take-back disposal of controlled substances by legitimate users-patients.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) has developed a new resource to make the case for policies that improve medication adherence.

Calcium supplementation is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI), according to a meta-analysis published online July 29 in BMJ and reported by HealthDay News.

Novartis Vaccines has started shipping the FDA-approved seasonal influenza vaccine Fluvirin to U.S. customers ahead of the 2010&endash;2011 season, allowing healthcare practitioners to initiate protection of their patients well in advance.

Certain lots of Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder) inhalers that were stolen from a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) distribution warehouse near Richmond, Va., in August 2009 have recently been found in some pharmacies, according to FDA.

FDA has approved Tribenzor (olmesartan medoxomil, amlodipine, hydrochlorothiazide), a new three-in-one combination product taken once daily for the treatment of hypertension in patients who are not adequately controlled on any 2 of the following antihypertensive drug classes: angiotensin receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, and diuretics, according to Daiichi Sankyo Inc.

CVS Caremark has released its Caremark.com iPhone application, which can be used with all versions of the Apple iPhone, the iPod Touch, and the iPad.

Patients taking newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) that are associated with a high risk of depression may have an elevated risk of self-harm or suicidal behavior, but other groups of AEDs do not appear to carry the same risk, according to research published in the July 27 issue of Neurology and reported in HealthDay News.

Oral antidiabetic (OAD) agents generally result in a maximum 1.5% drop in hemoglobin (Hb) A1C levels, with sulfonylureas and thiazolidinediones having a slightly more beneficial effect than other classes of oral agents, according to research published in the August issue of Diabetes Care and reported by HealthDay News.

Investigational combination treatment with sustained-release (SR) naltrexone and bupropion (Contrave, Orexigen Therapeutics) combined with lifestyle modification, appears effective in helping people lose 5% or more of their excess body weight, according to research published online July 30 in The Lancet and reported by HealthDay News.

Space is limited for the Pharmacy Ownership Workshop of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), taking place August 20 to August 22 at the Holiday Inn Richmond Airport Hotel in Richmond, Va.

No sooner did Sandoz begin shipping its generic version than Sanofi-Aventis, manufacturer of Lovenox, filed a federal lawsuit to reverse the FDA's approval of the generic.

With so many best-selling name-brand drugs coming off patent over the next few years, the market for generics should expand markedly. In Drug Topics' special generics supplement, pharmacists from around the country offer their views.

The generic market is likely to remain very strong between now and 2015, but the combination of healthcare reform and a lack of significant drugs coming off patent means that the outlook between 2015 and 2020 is murkier.

There are some big names among the brand drugs that have recently come off patent and joined the burgeoning generics market.

In a recent survey by Medco Health Solutions Inc., only 66% of 1,092 patients with insurance surveyed "agreed that a generic drug is the same as the brand-name medication - many patients are still not comfortable using a generic and others still consider brand-name drugs to be superior."

The latest pharmacy technologies include IVR, telepharmacy, cell-phone-based automatic refill reminders, a compact robotic dispenser, remote dispensing, and CPOE pharmacy management.

Use of bar-code technology is widespread in the general retail environment. Its advantages have not yet been fully exploited in the hospital and community-pharmacy settings.

With many pharmacists approaching retirement, positions are opening up. For professionals tasked with greater responsibility and longer working hours, greener pastures have an undeniable appeal. In this business climate, how can employers hold onto their pharmacy professionals?

During a typically busy day in the pharmacy, counseling every patient may be tough. But is it too much to answer questions politely - or help someone standing helpless in the OTC aisle?