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The American Medical Association and America's Health InsurancePlans have developed a form for doctors to use to ordernonformulary drugs under Medicare. This Exceptions Request Form isavailable atwww.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/Form_Exceptions_final.pdf onthe CMS Web site.

The Inspector General has issued an advisory opinion declaring thatit doesn't plan to take any action against Schering Plough'spatient assistance programs (PAPs), which provide free medicines toneedy patients, including Medicare beneficiaries. Drugmanufacturers had been worrying about whether their PAPs would bedeemed as steering Medicare patients to their drugs and thus aviolation of antikickback laws.

The HHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announcedan award of $16 million over the next five years to establish fournew Centers for Education & Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) toincrease awareness of the benefits and risks of therapeuticproducts, including prescription medicines, biological products,and medical devices, and to translate research findings intoimproved health care. The CERTs are located at Rutgers, the StateUniversity of New Jersey in New Brunswick; the University of Iowa;Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; and Weill Medical College ofCornell University in New York City.

A Baptist college's expulsion of a student who revealed that he isgay has Kentucky's Gov. Ernie Fletcher considering a line-item vetoof $10 million earmarked for a new pharmacy school.

PrairieStone Pharmacy is introducing DailyMed, a retail drugpackaging solution that presorts multiple prescriptions, OTCs, andvitamins into easy-to-use single-dose packets. DailyMed is approvedby the Minnesota Board of Pharmacy and is available in most statesby calling 1-(800) 973-1955.

Some of the eligible products include Ensure, Glucerna, Depend, Poise, Huggies, Cottonelle Fresh Folded Wipes, Citrucel, Comfort Personal Cleansing, No-Rinse, and Os-Cal.

The low molecular weight heparin enoxaparin (Lovenox, Sanofi-Aventis) is superior to unfractionated heparin as an adjunct to thrombolytic therapy in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (MI), researchers reported at the 55th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). The meeting was held in Atlanta last month.

The market for home infusion services is approaching $10 billion annually. The amount is split almost evenly between reimbursement for drug product and for the services pharmacists provide in preparing, delivering, and supporting home IV therapy.

Cedar River Clinics, a woman's health clinic and abortion provider, complained to the Washington State Board of Pharmacy that a hospital outpatient pharmacist cited moral objections for refusing to dispense a script for an abortion-related antibiotic, according to published reports.

Longs Drug Stores has entered into an agreement to buy Network Pharmaceuticals' 22 retail pharmacies, one wholesale pharmacy, and one closed-door pharmacy in southern California for about $10 million.

Consensus guidelines have been developed for the first time for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain associated with diabetes.

Eyetech Inc. and Pfizer have notified healthcare professionals of labeling changes for pegaptanib sodium injection (Macugen).

Changes to the labeling for Euflexxa (1% sodium hyaluronate, Ferring Pharmaceuticals), a treatment for the pain associated with osteoarthritis, have been approved by the FDA.

More than 1,350 pharmacy students participated in the residency matching program held in mid-March, representing an almost 13% increase over last year. In addition, more than 1,000 participants were matched with a residency, a 15% increase compared with the previous year.

GlaxoSmithKline is launching Nicorette Fruit Chill with a nationwide campaign called the Fruit Chill Million Challenge.

XLHealth, a disease management company, and CVS/pharmacy have partnered to provide free one-on-one medication consultations to a large segment of the Medicare beneficiaries participating in the Tennessee Medicare Health Support pilot program.

The FDA declined to allow GlaxoSmithKline to sell the weight-loss drug Xenical (orlistat) without a prescription, but the company said it still expects to introduce an OTC version of the drug by the end of the year.

The FDA and CDC are alerting healthcare professionals and their patients who wear soft contact lenses to an increasing number of reports of rare but serious fungal infections in the eye that can cause permanent loss of sight.

The American Lung Association of Iowa and Hy-Vee are joining forces to offer Iowa residents free screenings for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in America. Early detection through screening is essential to the diagnosis of COPD in its earliest stages. The screenings are available this month and will run through June.

One problem hospitals that have installed a computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system have been grappling with is the torrent of medical alerts generated by this technology.

When a new drug hits the market, it's no surprise to anyone that the price can be pretty steep. High research and development costs, along with huge promotional expenses, are part and parcel of bringing a new drug to consumers.

Virtually none of the more than 1,000 rural critical access hospitals (CAHs) in rural America can afford a round-the-clock R.Ph. on staff. And this lack of coverage can adversely affect quality by slowing the prescription review process, said Tim Stratton, R.Ph., Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy in Duluth.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices and ECRI, a medical device safety research company, are investigating a potentially dangerous problem with smart infusion pumps programming pads.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, disaster preparedness became a priority for the nation's hospitals. Then interest in the topic trailed off somewhat. But in the late summer of 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita slammed the Gulf Coast, and disaster preparedness was suddenly back with a vengeance.

An ambulatory 70-year-old man, F.H., has been admitted to yourhospital with a hip fracture that will require surgery. AlthoughF.H. has a history of atrial fibrillation (AF) episodes andtransient ischemic attacks (TIA), his heart is currently in normalsinus rhythm. Medications on admission included verapamil 120 mgand warfarin 5 mg daily; fracture pain is being treated withmorphine intramuscular (IM) injections at present. F.H.'s INR(International Normalized Ratio) on admission is 2.8; bloodpressure is 135/75; lab tests were within normal limits. F.H.'sphysician requests an anticoagulation consult to aid him indetermining the timing of surgery and venothromboembolism (VTE)prophylaxis. What do you suggest?

Technician-only CEs bore us, and the topics are rudimentary andrepetitive.

Consumers view the new drug benefit with caution, concern, and some optimism

There may be relief in sight for pharmacists frustrated with confusing and even contradictory electronic messages beamed their way by Part D insurance plans, thanks to a work group created by associations representing drugstore chains, independent pharmacy, and health insurance plans.

Things are looking up in relation to Medicare Part D, according to Mark McClellan, head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In early March, he addressed an audience of 700 pharmacists from New England on the status of the drug benefit, as the program passed its 60th day in operation. The presentation was the keynote address at the 66th Howard L. Reed Conference, sponsored by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.