All News

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists summer meeting will take place from June 12 to June 15 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. The meeting will contain a strong medication-safety component.

The American College of Rheumatology has developed new guidelines for starting and monitoring treatments for children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

FDA approved linagliptin (Tradjenta, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly) tablets, used with diet and exercise, to improve blood glucose control in adults with type 2 diabetes.

More than 6,000 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have created profiles as part of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education's new CPE Monitor program.

Script Your Future, a campaign to improve medication adherence, held its kickoff meeting on April 19, 2011, in Sacramento, Calif.

The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and other organizations are partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on a program that seeks to improve patient health and lower healthcare costs.

The Drug Enforcement Agency should consider community pharmacies as disposal locations for controlled substances, urged new comments submitted to Congress by the National Community Pharmacists Association.

FDA has approved abiraterone acetate (Zytiga, Centocor Ortho Biotech), an oral, once-daily medication for use in combination with prednisone for the treatment of men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer who have received prior chemotherapy containing docetaxel.

In the largest study of its kind, medication errors were greatly reduced after electronic prescribing systems and computerized error reporting systems were installed in a hospital?s psychiatric unit.

Dalteparin was not better than unfractionated heparin for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis among critically ill patients, according to an international study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

FDA recently issued warning letters to companies that manufacture and market over-the-counter products, including hand sanitizers, that claim to prevent infection from methicillin-resistant Staphylocococcus aureus.

In this section we showcase products and product news that ran up against space limitations or fell outside the parameters of recently featured categories in the print edition. Look for more OTC Product News in upcoming issues of the Drug Topics e-newsletter.

Infopia America?s SmartDiabetes product line has launched in 284 Walgreens drug stores in central and northeast Florida. The product line coordinates diabetes management between the patient, physician, and pharmacist.

This month, FDA launched its revamped Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts website, making it easier for consumers to search and view food- and product-recall information published since 2009.

Roche recently recalled its Accu-Chek FlexLink Plus infusion sets globally because they may deliver insufficient amounts of insulin to patients.

Fingolimod (Gilenya, Novartis) reduced the risk of disability progression in patients with RRMS, regardless of treatment history, according to a study reported at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

The Obama administration recently unveiled a multiagency plan to reduce the ?epidemic? of prescription drug abuse in the United States.

One pharmacist asks, what else will the profession of pharmacy find wrong with chain drugstores? He asks that the industry put aside its differences and look at what is best for pharmacy.

The Board of Pharmacy Specialties announced at its April meeting that the official designation for pharmacists who pass the ambulatory care pharmacy specialty certification exam would be Board Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist.

FDA has approved rituximab (Rituxan, Genentech) in combination with glucocorticosteroids for the treatment of 2 forms of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitis, Wegener's granulomatosis and microscopic polyangiitis.

Kaiser Permanente pharmacists in Southern California have called their first strike in more than 30 years. Some 1,300 inpatient and outpatient pharmacists at 13 medical centers and 145 medical offices serving nearly 3.3 million patients voted to walk off the job Thursday and Friday, April 21 and 22. The current contract expired on March 31.

Pharmacists will learn about reimbursement and patient motivators for medication adherence at the PQA/URAC Medication Adherence Summit in Washington, D.C., June 2 and 3.

Vaginal progesterone administered from the mid-trimester of pregnancy until term in women with a premature cervical shortening, as confirmed by transvaginal ultrasound, significantly reduced the rate of preterm birth before 33 weeks gestation, according to a phase 3 study published online in Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring is a useful diagnostic tool for differentiating between true and ?white-coat resistant? hypertension, reported a study published online in Hypertension.

There are several therapies in addition to blood thinners that physicians should consider when managing patients with deep vein thrombosis, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association. The statement is published online in Circulation.

FDA has approved tocilizumab (Actemra), given alone or in combination with methotrexate, for the treatment of active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children 2 years of age and older.

The number of people treated in U.S. hospitals for illnesses and injuries from taking medicines increased 52%-from 1.2 million to 1.9 million-between 2004 and 2008, according to an April 2011 report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

During a recent webinar presented by Pharmacy OneSource, Michael R. McDaniel, RPh, MBA, FASHP, showed how use of data can help identify appropriate cost-containment measures and justify necessary staffing.