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One half of the Iowa communnity pharmacists in 117 participating pharmacies in a Medicaid program failed to provide the pharmaceutical care services they were trained to offer and two thirds of eligible patients never received the services, according to a study.

A federal judge handed community pharmacy a major victory when he ruled that the Bush Administration lacked the authority for Medicare-endorsed Rx discount cards sponosored by PBMs and issued an injunction to halt the program.

The FDA recently approved azelaic acid (Finacea, Berlex Laboratories) 15.0% gel for the topical treatment of the inflammatory papules and pustules characteristic of mild-to-moderate rosacea. Finacea should be available in pharmacies during the first quarter of 2003.

The Massachusetts attorney general blasted pharmcies for passing a new $1.30 per Rx tax onto consumers. The tax was imposed to raise $36 million for the state Medicaid program but the law doesn't spell out whether pharmacies can charge consumers to the levy.

"It's Illegal" is a new campaign to make US consumers and the media aware that importing Rx drugs is unlawful has been launched by the National Community Pharmacists Association

Community pharmacists are angry that the government began soliciting sponsors for the proposed Medicare-endorsed discount Rx drug cards before a federal judge had issued a final ruling on the legality of the proposal.

Forteo (teriparatide) treats osteoporosis in men,and women who have gone through menopause.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) now have a first-of-its-kind therapeutic option that is safe, convenient, and effective. The FDA recently approved adalimumab (Humira, Abbott Laboratories) for reducing the signs and symptoms and inhibiting the progression of structural damage in adult patients with moderately to severely active RA who have had an inadequate response to one or more disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). The approval of adalimumab comes just nine months after regulatory submission. Adalimumab will be available in pharmacies by mid-January.

Keeping patients on long term therapy requires multifaceted interventions but even complex approaches don't lead to big improvements in adherence or improved outcomes, according to researchers from the McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences in Ontario.