Community Practice

Patients who do the best job of properly taking their medicine tend to be older, with higher incomes and more education, according to a study published in the September 2013 issue of Medical Care.

CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, praised the components of the ACA that have already been rolled out and emphasized that a number of provisions have already made in impact. He spoke at a September 10 gathering at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Walgreens has reached agreement with privately held Kerr Drug to acquire its retail drugstores and specialty pharmacy business, which last year had sales of about $381 million.

After another child died recently from exposure to a transdermal fentanyl patch, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices has created a new brochure on the pain medication for patients.

At least one quarter of the 800,000 deaths annually attributed to cardiovascular disease could be prevented if people stopped smoking, reduced salt intake, and adopted other healthy habits, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A majority of Medicare beneficiaries said they would oppose mandatory mail order if it would lead to closure of their local community pharmacy, according to a new study.

Last year, Indiana held the dubious distinction of being the state with the most pharmacy robberies in America. Yet there was not a single pharmacy robbery in 2012 in St. Joseph County, Indiana, which includes South Bend.

Pharmacists in Canada were recently given broader responsibilities including, in certain provinces, prescribing privileges, vaccination abilities, and the ability to order and interpret laboratory tests. This newly expanded role for Canadian pharmacists can benefit both patients and physicians, according to an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

In response to the federal crackdown on Rx fraud, CVS Caremark has told physicians it believes overprescribe controlled substances to take their business elsewhere.

New study shows that simultaneous treatment of alcohol dependence and PTSD is more effective than either treatment would be alone.

Alabama has targeted so-called “doctor shopping” and Rx diversion with three bills designed to stop such lawbreakers.

As the Drug Enforcement Administration increases scrutiny of pharmacies dispensing controlled substances that are sometimes illegally diverted, new policies designed to curb Rx abuse are pitting pharmacists against physicians.

A severe decline in the use of estrogen therapy (ET) due to misunderstanding the findings of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Estrogen Plus Progestin Trial has particularly affected hysterectomized women in their 50s, leading to excess mortality, according to a study published online in the American Journal of Public Health.

New Rx, indications, generics, and OTC

A recent OIG study reveals that in 2009, Medicare Part D paid $5.4 million to massage therapists, dieticians, and other individuals who clearly lacked authority to prescribe drugs

It's cheaper to prevent chronic diseases than to treat them. Through promotion of health literacy, medication adherence, health screenings, and tertiary care, pharmacist can have a real impact on public health.

When it comes to employee drug utilization reviews, one pharmacist is beating PBMs at their own game. If businesses and healthcare systems followed her lead, more would change than just the DURs.

The Specialty Sterile Pharmaceutical Society launches, with its own product and safety standards standards and a plan to march on Washington.

BMJ study finds small but statistically significant changes in Qmci scores of dementia patients who initiate hypertension treatment with ACE inhibitors.

Insulin resistance can be described as a decrease in sensitivity or a decreased biological response to insulin. No single etiological explanation has been described for insulin resistance because of the unique associations with cardiovascular risk, obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Research has shown that the pathogenesis of insulin resistance results from either lipid accumulation, the contribution of systemic inflammation, or through genetic mutations involving autoantibodies to the insulin receptor.

As a faculty trainer for the American Pharmacists Association’s Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery certification program and a pharmacist who offers immunizations, I have trained hundreds and vaccinated thousands of individuals. Here are some tips and experiences that will hopefully be beneficial to pharmacists in any setting who want to immunize patients.

Hillary Rodham Clinton urged pharmacists to help exercise leadership when she spoke at the NACDS Total Store Expo in Las Vegas.

The first study to investigate the long-term reproducibility of the sensitivity of blood pressure to salt and potassium yields results.

Risk is highest for post-menopausal women who have used calcium channel blockers for 10 years or more.

Illinois has become the 21st state to legalize some form of medical marijuana with the establishment of a 4-year pilot program that targets patients with chronic pain and debilitating conditions such as muscular dystrophy, cancer, and HIV.

Adding flow regulators to liquid medication bottles is an effective way to limit the amount of medication administered to children, according to a study published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

NACDS' Total Store Expo, opening at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, on Saturday, August 10, brings together its Marketplace Conference, its Pharmacy & Technology Conference, and its Supply Chain & Logistics Conference.

Between 1969 and 2013, 107 cases of SJS, TEN, and ACEP, involving 67 hospitalizations and 12 deaths, were reported to FDA.

Tom Ohliger, RPh, an independent pharmacist from Fairview Park, Ohio, discusses the many challenges facing independent pharmacies.

Express Scripts’ second quarter net income more than tripled (compared to the second quarter of 2012) to $543 million, thanks in part to the growth of home delivery and the exploding specialty drug market.