All News

OTC Product News

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.

Rite Aid kicked off the summer by launching a new healthy skin care campaign in partnership with the Skin Cancer Foundation. The program includes free consumer information in all Rite Aid stores and online as well as increased professional information for the chain?s pharmacists.

FDA announced new testing and labeling requirements for OTC sunscreen products that will help manufacturers better indicate those that when used with other sun protection measures reduce the risk of skin cancer and early skin aging, as well as help prevent sunburn, according to a news release issued by the agency.

Tim Canning is no longer president of Health Mart, McKesson?s retail pharmacy franchise and Drug Topic?s 2011 Chain of the Year. As of June 17, Canning switched hats to become the chief marketing officer and senior vice president at long-term care pharmacy chain Omnicare.

FDA approved a new drug application for Zutripro (hydrocodone bitartrate, chlorpheniramine maleate and pseudoephedrine HCl) Oral Solution (CIII) and Rezira (hydrocodone bitartrate and pseudoephedrine HCl) Oral Solution (CIII), according to a statement issued by Cypress Pharmaceutical.

While the U.S. population is expected to increase 12.6% between 2000 and 2013, the number of pharmacy school graduates will come close to doubling. The oversupply of pharmacists is already having a drastic effect on student debt, job prospects, and wages. The time to halt the proliferation of pharmacy schools has come.

Whereas historic pharmacy practice linked the pharmacist to a product, as pharmacists move toward more complete healthcare services, they are now also providers of cognitive services. As pharmacists delve further into cognitive services and take on greater patient responsibility, the process is likely to add to liability exposure.

Too much manpower?

The days of too many jobs chasing too few pharmacists are history. Today the situation is reversed. Is the situation grim for new pharmacists seeking to enter the market? Not necessarily, says one expert.

Letters June 2011

Readers speak out about pill-splitting, depression screening, the POWER program, rapping pharmacists, and more

New Products

A survey of new Rx, new generic, and new OTC products

An accurate understanding of the effectiveness of medications, which guides decisions about their optimal use, depends on a critical appraisal of published literature, according to Alvin Goo, PharmD. Goo is a clinical pharmacist with Harborview Medical Center and clinical associate professor, University of Washington School of Pharmacy and Family Medicine, Seattle.

Defining differences

Drug Topics visits one-on-one with Mary Relling, PharmD, chair of pharmaceutical sciences at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, who has devoted her career to finding better treatment options for childhood leukemia patients.

The results are in, and this year Health Mart wins by a landslide. Pharmacy owner Timothy Davis and other satisfied franchisees tell us why.

A meta-analysis of studies on recurrent venous thromboembolism; updated guidelines for management of atrial fibrillation; a meta-analysis of studies comparing generic and branded warfarin

Only 5 years ago, all they heard was "pharmacist shortage, great jobs, great benefits, great pay." Now the opportunities pharmacy students dreamed about when they began school in 2007 are no longer available.

A new continuing education reporting system sponsored by NABP and ACPE should be in use by the end of the year. In order to receive credit for CPE activities, applicants will provide their NABP e-Profile ID and date of birth. IDs may be obtained at the NABP website.

After the earthquake

A young pharmacist recounts his experience of volunteering in Haiti after the earthquake.

Pharmacists are often reluctant to apologize. One fear is that lawyers may use their statements against them. Another fear is that they may be violating their own malpractice insurance policies. But there can be advantages to saying, "I made a mistake; I am sorry." A patient may be saved and a possibly explosive situation may be cooled. For most of us, it is the natural thing to do.

FDA has approved azilsartan medoxomil 40-mg and 80-mg tablets for the treatment of hypertension, either alone or in combination with other antihypertensive agents. FDA has also approved roflumilast as a treatment to reduce the risk of COPD exacerbations in patients with severe COPD associated with chronic bronchitis and a history of exacerbations (not the relief of acute bronchospasm).