The Food and Drug Administration's "Medication Guide" program, set up nine years ago as a major avenue of informing patients about risks or special issues with certain drugs, has a host of problems, according to pharmacists and other witnesses at a recent hearing.
Most Americans probably never gave tuberculosis (TB) a passing thought until a case of extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR TB) recently made national headlines. An American with XDR TB traveled from the United States to Europe and back in May, potentially exposing hundreds of fellow travelers to the disease. Since then, national public concern about TB has ballooned.
Only a small fraction of MTM programs are open to community pharmacists
Adults and children six years of age and older who suffer with seasonal and perennial allergic rhinitis will now have another option for relief of their symptoms. Levocetirizine (Xyzal) from UCB Inc. and Sanofi-Aventis has received regulatory approval from the FDA.
The number of community pharmacies shrinks for the first time in five years amid smaller profits with even bigger challenges on the horizon.
NABP announced that Patient Care Infusion dba Arizona Home Care has received accreditation through the association's durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) accreditation program.
A Government Accountability Office report found enrollment delays and excessive payments for beneficiaries who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid.
The National Coalition of Pharmaceutical Distributors (NCPD) has come out in support of a lawsuit aimed at preventing the implementation of new pedigree requirements for the Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA).
A federal judge ruled that AstraZeneca, a subsidiary of Schering-Plough, and Bristol-Myers Squibb are guilty of reporting false average wholesale prices for a number of prescription drugs in violation of a Massachusetts consumer protection law.
The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy and ASHP have approved a new standard for managed care pharmacy residencies that aims to improve training for pharmacists as they prepare for this specialized area of practice. T
The new labeling requirements came about after the USP reviewed numerous case reports suggesting a potential link between ingestion of products containing green tea extracts and black cohosh and liver damage.
ASHP has reached an agreement with the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) to work together on initiatives for rural hospitals.
The FDA announced a final rule establishing regulations to require current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) for dietary supplements.
The new service, called HybridRx, is an extension of the company's onsite healthcare solution, Hybrid Health, which offers a comprehensive range of healthcare services for client employees, retirees, and their dependents.
The coin-to-card service allows consumers to convert their loose change to a CVS card at the Coinstar kiosk and pay no coin-counting fee.
A tractor trailer carrying more than 16 million doses of hydrocodone was stolen from an Illinois truck stop in June.
A Massachusetts judge ordered Wal-Mart to pay $2 million for wrongfully terminating a pharmacist. Cynthia Haddad was fired by Wal-Mart in April 2004 after asking to be paid the same as her male colleagues.
A progesterone vaginal insert has been OK'd for marketing and will be sold under the name Endometrin, from Ferring Pharmaceuticals. The new formulation will be available in a100-mg strength and is indicated to support embryo implantation and early pregnancy by supplementation of corpus luteal function as part of an assisted reproductive technology treatment for infertile women.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals is making the Self-Infusion Training Kit available at no cost to hemophilia treatment centers around the nation.
The American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends a two-dose series of the varicella vaccine for children 12 months through 12 years of age, with the doses separated by at least three months.
The FDA has given the go-ahead to Cephalon Inc. to market armodafinil (Nuvigil) for the treatment of excessive sleepiness associated with obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome, narcolepsy, and shift-work sleep disorder.
CompPharma LLC has been formed to enable PBMs specializing in workers' compensation to share the cost of researching and developing solutions for industry-wide issues.
CMS' proposal to limit payments to hospitals for nosocomial infections has won the support of Consumers Union.
As part of the sampling effort being done for the investigation into toothpaste made in China, the FDA has updated the list of products that have tested positive for diethylene glycol (DEG) on its Web site.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) has launched a multiyear, multimillion-dollar public relations campaign that will focus on "whys and ways" people incorporate dietary supplements into their lifestyle.
According to Repro-Med Systems, which designs and manufactures medical devices for medical respiratory products and infusion therapy, notification received from CMS indicated that the Freedom60 has been rereviewed for Medicare billing.
Sepracor is unhappy with the way CMS proposes to pay for its Xopenex (levalbuterol HCl) Inhalation Solution. CMS plans to bundle levalbuterol with generic albuterol inhalation solutions under Medicare Part B.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) has proposed a new list of 62 medications that it thinks fit its criteria for hazardous drugs and a list of 88 products that don't fit those criteria.
The Bridgewater, N.J., firm maintains that cancer patients could be hurt by CMS' reduced coverage proposal for these antianemia agents.
Yet another group has come out against CMS for its proposal to withdraw coverage of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) for many uses.