Health System

Pfizer Inc. recently launched a syringe that aims to help hemophilia patients lead active lives and take care of their condition faster and easier.

With several blockbusters going off patent, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asked the office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation to ?examine barriers to and identify opportunities for increasing generic use.?

A new study conducted by CVS Caremark and published in Health Affairs, found that among patients who had increased drug costs but were adherent with their medications, a ?substantial medical savings as a result of reductions in hospitalization and emergency department use? was realized.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has released a study examining trends of admissions to U.S. substance abuse treatment facilities of people aged 12 years and over, during the period from 1998 to 2008.

Executives with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and other groups are urging Congress to pass federal legislation to ease drug shortages in the United States.

FDA has approved vilazodone HCl tablets (Viibryd, Clinical Data) for the treatment of adults with major depressive disorder.

Bayer instructed patients to immediately discontinue use of the Triad alcohol prep pads included in Betaseron (interferon beta 1-b) packaging and to dispose of those pads in the trash.

FDA has sent MannKind Corp. a complete response letter regarding the company?s New Drug Application for Afrezza (insulin human [rDNA origin]) Inhalation Powder for the treatment of adult patients with types 1 and 2 diabetes for the control of hyperglycemia.

Concern that its drug vorapaxar, in trial for its potential to prevent clots, actually increased the risk of bleeding in stroke victims has prompted Merck & Co. to halt a late-stage study of the drug, the Associated Press reported.

FDA has approved a label update to include a 200-mg formulation of etravirine (Intelence, Tibotec Therapeutics), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of HIV-1 in adults resistant to an NNRTI and other antiretroviral agents.

The impact of generic drugs ? which now account for more than 70% of all prescriptions dispensed in the United States ? will continue to increase as some of the world?s most-prescribed products lose their patent protection in 2011 and begin facing generic competition.

Severe liver injury, including 2 cases of acute liver failure leading to liver transplant in patients treated with the medication, has been associated with the use of dronedarone (Multaq), according to an FDA Drug Safety Communication announcement.

Warehouse retailer Sam's Club has launched what may be the country's largest retail preventive health program targeting consumers and small businesses.

The National Community Pharmacists Association commended BB&T Corporation's recent decision to reemphasize and continue its employees' choice in filling their maintenance prescriptions, including at independent community pharmacies.

The first trial to provide evidence that drugs used to treat HIV can also help to prevent HIV infection among men who have sex with men (when combined with other prevention strategies) was reported late November online in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Infectious Diseases Society of America is set to release its first guidelines for the treatment of the increasingly common and potentially deadly methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Compared with conventional 21-day regimens, 24-day oral contraceptive regimens containing a progestogen with a long half-life show higher contraceptive effectiveness under routine medical conditions, according to research published in the January 2011 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

FDA has approved fentanyl (Abstral, ProStraken) transmucosal tablets to manage breakthrough pain for adults with cancer.

Duloxetine (Cymbalta, Eli Lilly), used to treated depression and anxiety, was found to be effective at reducing joint and muscle pain associated with breast cancer treatment.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. recently recalled 64 million tablets of Avalide blood pressure medication in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Some Medicare Advantage patients have a new way to buy over-the-counter products: OTCNetwork, a prepaid point-of-sale card.

Oncology treatment and benefits are changing. Buy-and-bill, the traditional methodology that had physicians buying chemotherapeutic products, treating in the office, and billing the payer, is going the way of surgery by barbers. But no one is quite sure what will replace the one-time standard of payment.

Many pharmacies are aware of the 340B Drug Pricing Program, but few understand the mechanics of how such a program works and to what extent a community pharmacy may be able to capitalize on its benefits.

The states that are looking for ways to stop illegal sales of pseudoephedrine should be commended. But a prescription requirement for cold and allergy medications that customers rely on every day is bad public policy that will have an unnecessary impact on many patients.

After much legal wrangling, pharmacies in San Francisco can no longer carry cigarettes.

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

While there may be some notable breakthroughs to brighten an otherwise bleak pharmaceutical pipeline for 2011, the overall outlook remains grim as the number of new drugs under development continues to shrink, compared to the glory days of just a few short years ago.

Pharmacists save the medical system millions of dollars every day by being the last resort for the poor people who have nowhere else to turn.

Medtronic Inc. in Minneapolis, Minn., recently received FDA approval for its new CareLink Pro 3.0 Therapy Management software.

An OIG audit concluded that CMS is paying pharmacies for dispensing terminated drugs under Medicare Part D, while CMS insists it is not.