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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has come out with new, less stringent rules on the coverage of two popular anemia drugs. The new rules apply mostly to cancer patients who receive chemotherapy that causes anemia and people with the bone marrow disorder myelodysplasia.

Chains should not have been the only ones contacted about the issue of drug errors. Pharmacists should also have been consulted about ways to error proof pharmacies.

Organized by HBC category, the never-out list is Hamacher Resource Group's proprietary list of products that pharmacy shelves should never be without. The following is a partial list of never-outs from the weight-control category.

Sentri7 can be individualized by the user to collect certain data about certain patients, which is very helpful in antibiotic stewardship programs. Sentri7 automates data collection, analysis, action steps, and outcome documentation.

A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin found that 4% of chronic pain patients taking opioid drugs such as OxyContin (oxycodone HCI, Purdue Pharma) or Percocet (oxycodone HCI/acetaminophen, Endo Labs) abuse the medications.

Watson Pharmaceuticals announced that Allen Chao, its chairman, president, and CEO, will retire as president and CEO effective Sept. 4.

Patients with severe malaria who need parenteral therapy because they are unable to take oral medications may now benefit from treatment with artesunate, an unapproved therapy now available through a new CDC Investigational New Drug Application.

Ariad is developing the new entity in conjunction with Merck for the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic cancers.

More than 500,000 clinicians using Epocrates? drug reference software will now have access to Caremark Pharmacy Services division formulary information.

Materials and computers from the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy and the offices and home of professor Flynn Warren Jr., M.S., have been seized by U.S. marshals investigating cheating on the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX).

A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin found that 4% of chronic pain patients taking opioid drugs such as OxyContin (oxycodone HCI, Purdue Pharma) or Percocet (oxycodone HCI/acetaminophen, Endo Labs) abuse the medications.

Community pharmacies are smarting over a proposed rule by HHS that will help limit the Medicare program's risk by requiring all suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) to provide CMS with a surety bond.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that the average sale price based on data reported to Medicare for 39 medications exceeded the average manufacturer price by at least 5%.

Consumers may not be aware of the May recall of Complete MoisturePlus Multipurpose Contact Lens Solution manufactured by Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) and continue to use the recalled product. Several cases of Acanthamoeba keratitis reported to CDC involved the use of AMO Complete MoisturePlus after the recall was announced.