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At most large tertiary care hospitals and academic medical centers, around-the-clock pharmacy service is relatively common. But in some small and rural hospitals, 24-hour, seven-day-a-week pharmacy coverage is not economically feasible or practical. How are pharmacy services provided in those facilities? And how do health-system pharmacists feel about a Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations proposal that would require all hospital pharmacies to provide 24/7 service?

Catalyst Rx ... HealthTrans ... MedImpact ... Navitus Health Solutions.... These pharmacy benefit managers may not be household names yet, but they are shaking up the PBM market.

In 2005, over 3.4 billion prescriptions were filled-a jump of 59% since 1995. This good news comes from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation's recently released 2006 Chain Pharmacy Industry Profile.

Pharmacists Planning Service Inc. (PPSI) has submitted a citizen's petition to the Food & Drug Administration to regulate the labeling and packaging of acetaminophen/APAP-containing products so that the label states, "Contains acetaminophen. Do not take with any other acetaminophen/ APAP." PPSI is also asking that no more than 50 tablets be sold in a bottle and that the FDA mandate a MedGuide.

Recently, a certified pharmacy technician expressed her frustration when she and her pharmacist were blamed for unprofessional conduct in their telephone transaction with a doctor. The prescriber claimed to be too important to waste her time digging up numbers that the pharmacist needed to fill her patient's prescription. The doctor immodestly identified herself as a well-known and celebrated practitioner. This, apparently, was a good enough reason to refuse the request for her DEA number.

The position of pharmacy technician has grown and evolved dramatically over the past 11 years. And, as technicians grow in importance at many chain and independent pharmacies, so too has the technician certification exam.

A pharmacy technician from Seattle has created a disposable, single-use tray and spatula to eliminate the risk of cross-contamination during pill counting in pharmacies.

In an extension of cooperation begun earlier this year, health insurance plans and pharmacist groups have created a booklet and a Web site to guide Medicare beneficiaries through choosing a 2007 Part D plan, just as open enrollment is set to begin on Nov. 15.

The long-awaited first dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor will soon make its debut. Januvia (sitagliptin), from Merck & Co., has been approved by the Food & Drug Administration as both a monotherapy and an add-on treatment to improve glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes.

CVS and Caremark have entered into a definitive merger agreement that would unite the second-largest mail-order prescription company with the No. 2 drugstore chain.