With the flu season right around the corner, pharmacies should engage payers as early in the year as possible to ensure adequate time to finalize contracting, fully test their billing capabilities, and stock inventory before the official start of the vaccine season.
Massachusetts' Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has instituted a policy shift excluding coverage of prescription drugs compounded for adults. Plaintiffs call this "a callous decision" and "a major blow" to the state's many patients who depend on compounded medications.
A new survey of U.S. neurologists indicates that one-fifth have not been aware of FDA safety alerts connected with anti-seizure drug therapies.
A look at upcoming Continuing Pharmacy Education units on osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, and cardiometabolic syndrome.
As a healthcare model, the PCMH is a work in progress, but all signs point to its increasing importance. And pharmacists are key members of the team.
Numerous studies have concluded that the risk of influenza vaccination leading to Guillain-Barre syndrome is slim indeed. To see the odds, read on.
Indianapolis pharmacists and the college of pharmacy at Butler University brainstorm solutions to the problem of medication adherence in a live CE program.
An estrogen receptor agonist, ospemifene counteracts the effects of declining estrogen hormones on vaginal tissue, thereby reducing pain during intercourse.
The War on Drugs began a century ago. It's still going strong -- and so is the traffic in illegal drugs. What's up with that?
A 12,000-patient Danish study suggests that the addition of one antiplatelet agent to oral anticoagulation is sufficient.
Drug Topics readers weigh in on natural medicines, foreign-made pharmaceuticals, and drugstore tobacco sales.
Quadrivalent and trivalent vaccines from major pharmaceutical manufacturers are shipping now.
2D barcodes hold more than the NDC. Their 2,300 characters (compared to 48 in linear barcodes) can hold lot numbers and expiration dates, along with the product IDs.
Filling a prescription at a doctor’s office may be convenient, but it’s certainly no bargain for patients or taxpayers, according to an analysis of workers’ compensation payouts in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Women taking opioids, such as Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Percocet just before or during early pregnancy are twice as likely to have a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect, such as spina bifida: Study
After Adheris, Inc. sought a preliminary injunction to block a rule that would prevent companies from sending Rx refill reminders to patients, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has delayed its implementation.
While many drug store chains are educating customers about the soon-to-be-implemented Affordable Care Act, Rite Aid is taking the education a step further.
Patients who do the best job of properly taking their medicine tend to be older, with higher incomes and more education, according to a study published in the September 2013 issue of Medical Care.
CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, praised the components of the ACA that have already been rolled out and emphasized that a number of provisions have already made in impact. He spoke at a September 10 gathering at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Children who miss diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine doses are at more likely to develop whooping cough, according to a study in JAMA Pediatrics.
FDA expanded the approved uses of paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension, albumin-bound (Abraxane, Celgene) to treat patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Walgreens has reached agreement with privately held Kerr Drug to acquire its retail drugstores and specialty pharmacy business, which last year had sales of about $381 million.
Poor medication adherence causes more frequent hospitalizations and emergency department visits among children and adolescents who have a chronic medical condition, such as asthma and type 1 diabetes, according to a study recently published in Pediatrics.
In hopes of decreasing opioid abuse, addictions, and overdose deaths, FDA this week announced safety-labeling changes for all extended-release and long-acting opioid analgesics used to treat pain. FDA has also added new postmarket study requirements for opioids such as morphine, oxycodone, and fentanyl.
Jim “Goose” Rawlings, a popular Drug Topics contributor, shares a little story from his student years that packs a big punch.
After another child died recently from exposure to a transdermal fentanyl patch, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices has created a new brochure on the pain medication for patients.
At least one quarter of the 800,000 deaths annually attributed to cardiovascular disease could be prevented if people stopped smoking, reduced salt intake, and adopted other healthy habits, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A majority of Medicare beneficiaries said they would oppose mandatory mail order if it would lead to closure of their local community pharmacy, according to a new study.
Children and youth on antipsychotics appear to have a 3-fold increased risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus, according to a study published by JAMA Psychiatry.
Knowing which patients are most at-risk for adverse drug events would help hospitals direct pharmacist-led counseling services to those who need it the most. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Foundation is funding research it believes will make it easier to identify those patients.
