Health System

Want to see fear on the face of a pharmacist? Ask for a quick dosage conversion for a 75-year-old woman with breast cancer who has become too weak to swallow MS Contin tablets and needs an oral liquid morphine. Keep reading to learn more about making conversions easier.

A study released by CVS Caremark found that more than 50 percent of patients under the age of 45 who are prescribed a medication to treat high cholesterol are not optimally adherent to their therapy.

In what it describes as an effort to stabilize and possibly decrease costs, a significant portion of which are associated with enforcement of laws and regulations, the Virginia Board of Pharmacy is testing new processes to help increase the efficiency of certain noncompliance issues.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy will convene a two-day task force Oct. 28 and October 29 to research various prescription-drug monitoring programs and recommend standards or model rules.

Consumer shopping habits have changed in the new economy and some of those habits will have an impact on purchases of prescriptions and OTC healthcare products for the next few years.

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that two lots of Advair Diskus medication were stolen earlier this month from the company's distribution facility near Richmond, Virginia.

On Aug. 26 the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to the public that stolen vials of the long-acting insulin Levemir still may be on the market.

The program created to provide Medicare recipients with prescription drug benefits exceeded expectations during its first two years. Keep reading to learn the details.

Keep reading to learn about some legal roadblocks in the way of pharmacy technicians.

The Pharmacists Society of the State of New York is fighting mad over the state's plan to contract with mail-order pharmacies to deliver high-cost medications to Medicaid customers.

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) has launched its Student Ambassador Program, designed to connect pharmacy students with owners of community pharmacies.

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.

The University of Utah College of Pharmacy, joined by friends, supporters, members of The ALSAM Foundation, and Mr. and Mrs. L.S. Skaggs, broke ground on a $69-million research facility to be known as the L.S. Skaggs Pharmacy Institute.

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 school of pharmacy opens this fall in Denver at Regis University's Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions.

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.

A survey of new Rx, new OTC, new indications, and new generics

Commercial medication therapy management programs are gaining in strength and popularity for medical, financial, and practical reasons. In Minnesota, a pilot program for state employees was so successful that two years later it expanded into a program for all fully insured members. Another program is in use by Minnesota Medicaid and General Mills. And in North Carolina, the Asheville Project is still going strong.

As many a pharmacist can testify, sometimes a momentary encounter makes an impression that will last a lifetime.

The kids are going back to school, and opportunities for exposure to head lice abound. In the U.S., an estimated 6 million to 12 million infestations occur each year among children 3 to 11 years old. This year, some new products offer relief.

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

Over the next several years, generic versions of many best-selling drugs will become available as patents reach their expiration dates.

For hospitals and health systems, Joint Commission accreditation is an ongoing issue of vital importance. With their specialized knowledge and skills, pharmacists can contribute greatly to the continuous process of refining goals and meeting standards.