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Sens. Kay R. Hagan (D-N.C.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) have introduced The Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Expanded Benefits Act, a bill that will allow seniors with one chronic illness to thoroughly review all their medications with a pharmacist in a one-on-one session.

FDA has announced that the agency is currently evaluating whether the use of the angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) olmesartan (Benicar, Daiichi Sankyo; also sold in combination with hydrocholorothiazide as Benicar HCT) was associated with increased cardiovascular mortality.

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 greatly reduced FDA involvement in assessing the safety of dietary supplements, leaving pharmacists with the problem of obtaining accurate information with which to advise patients.

Pharmacists speak out about the personal touch, personalized medicine, and "personality kids"

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) skin patches containing low doses of estrogen carry less risk of stroke than oral therapy and may represent a safer alternative.

Switching from branded to generic drugs for epilepsy did not cause increased incidents or utilization changes among patients, according to new study results.

For male pharmacists, anyway, the 1970s were good times, with a sense of fraternity among professionals. What happened to the group spirit?

In the first of its "FDA Drug Info Rounds," a new series of educational videos for pharmacists, FDA is tackling unapproved dispensing of colchicine.

Inhaled insulin may be making a comeback. That's the hope at MannKind, a California-based biopharmaceutical company developing a rapid-acting inhaled insulin known as Afrezza (insulin human rDNA origin).

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

The Drug Enforcement Administration has released its long-awaited interim final rule for electronic prescribing of controlled substances.

A ballot initiative moving toward approval in North Dakota could open the doors to chain pharmacy in the state.

Pharmacists now have another way to obtain continuing education credits for diabetes management.

The first non-drug treatment for severe asthma that is not well controlled by anti-inflammatory medicines won FDA approval April 27.

In the business world, it just seems like common sense that you dictate to your customers at your extreme peril. Even when you think God is on your side.

Bumps, bruises, and scrapes happen - especially during the summer months when knees and elbows are bare and so much time is spent outdoors. Many first-aid products can help.

The relationship between prescribing practitioners and nurses working in a long-term-care (LTC) facility is of significant concern to the LTC facility when controlled substances are needed.

Pharmacy directors who want to - or have to - operate 24/7 but don't have the staff to cover all 3 shifts have a new ally, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).

The number of e-prescriptions filled last year soared 181% to 191 million, according to "Advancing Healthcare in America," a report issued by Surescripts in Alexandria, Va.

As Americans increasingly turn to vitamins and herbal supplements as alternatives to prescription drug use, medical professionals and government leaders worry that few realize the implications.

At 5 years? follow-up, intensive blood-pressure reduction to a target systolic blood pressure (SBP) less than 120 mm Hg did not reduce the risk of a composite cardiovascular outcome, compared with a target SBP of less than 140 mm Hg in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of cardiovascular events, although it did reduce the incidence of stroke, said William Cushman, MD, who presented the results from the blood pressure portion of the ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) study to a gathering at the 70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Orlando, Fla.

Five-year data from a seminal study in patients with type 2 diabetes who are at especially high risk of heart disease show that intensive glucose control does slow the progression of microvascular disease, but mortality is increased and there is no benefit on macrovascular complications.

A new post-hoc study of rosiglitazone and cardiac events in patients with type 2 diabetes is adding to the controversy surrounding the thiazolidinedione (TZD) agent. Lead author Richard Bach, MD, associate professor of medicine, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., presented the new data during a late-breaking clinical study symposium Tuesday morning at the 70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, taking place in Orlando, Fla.

Patients and providers who look for saccharine packets may like the product-or they may not realize the range of nonnutritive, noncaloric sweeteners currently available.

A community-based behavioral lifestyle intervention results in significant reductions in glycated hemoglobin, fasting blood glucose, and body weight in overweight/obese individuals with prediabetes, said David Goff Jr, MD, PHD.

Use of a sensor-augmented pump is superior to multiple daily insulin injections in reducing glycated hemoglobin levels without an increased risk of hypoglycemia in both adults and children with type 1 diabetes who are not in good control on multiple daily injections, said Richard M Bergenstal, MD.

Herbals and supplements such as silymarin (milk thistle), fish oil, and red rice yeast can improve some of the conditions associated with diabetes, but the evidence is slim.

In 1992, researcher Edwin Bierman, MD, described the development of cardiovascular disease in diabetes as a black box. Nearly 20 years later, it is still a black box.

A telemedicine intervention in older adults with diabetes improved hemoglobin (Hb) A1c levels, and this improvement in HbA1c was associated with more frequent uploading of glucose values, found Ruth Weinstock, MD, PhD, addressing a gathering at the 70th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Obesity and leanness are more than calories in and energy out. The amount of adipose tissue an individual carries is also a function of his or her intestinal microbiota. Research in mice and humans suggests that individuals with more Firmicutes and fewer Bacteroidetes tend to be more obese.