Alaina Scott, Senior Editor

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.

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.

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) recently wrote to a key standards-setting body requesting action on a number of regarding a new Internal Revenue Service requirement meant to ensure flexible spending account debit cards are used properly that is seen by the association as problematic.

The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) has released its annual list of fellow awards and announced the recipient of its lifetime fellow award.

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).

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.

As the 2009 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Annual Meeting started July 18, one of the first issues on the agenda was pharmacists who plan on entering academia and how graduate students can make the transition into a faculty position.

The former owner of a former pharmacy near Pittsburgh and one of his workers are charged with submitting $1 million in bogus prescription claims to Medicaid and private insurance companies.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) applauded a decision by U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth to postpone a February hearing about Medicaid Average Manufacturer Price (AMP).

Henry Waxman this week told attendees of the Generic Pharmaceutical Association Annual in Florida that he would work to pass legislation that would allow generic versions of biogenerics and biosimilar pharmaceuticals.

Cleveland Clinic has joined forces with MinuteClinic to staff clinics inside several northeast Ohio CVS/pharmacy stores.

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) knows it would have more fighting power if it had an army of independent pharmacists and their customers behind it.

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) recently announced that John Coster, PhD, RPh, has joined the association as its new Senior Vice President of Government Affairs.

South Dakota pharmacists can now authorize, supervise, and verify prescriptions filled by pharmacy technicians in remote locations.

The health center at Middle Tennessee State University has opened a pharmacy with a drive-through window.

A team of medical investigators at the University of California, San Francisco, has accused drug companies of bias by distorting the results of their trials in medical journals, which many doctors rely on to determine whether to prescribe new drugs.

The U.S Food and Drug Administration is investigating whether some asthma medications, in rare cases, can increase the risk of serious asthma complications.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently recalled two unapproved and uncleared devices whose manufacturers claimed could treat various medical conditions. The recall was a Class 1, which means there is a reasonable probability that the use of a device will cause adverse reactions, including death.

Cedarville University, in southwestern Ohio, is moving forward with plans for its pharmacy school, which will begin enrolling students next fall, and has appointed Marc A. Sweeney as the founding dean.