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NCPA has issued a sharply worded statement disputing a PCMA study that asserted that the Community Pharmacy Fairness Act of 2007 would increase Medicare Part D drug costs nearly $30 billion over five years. The act, which was introduced in the House of Representatives and has 124 cosponsors, would allow independent pharmacies to negotiate collectively with PBMs.

In a letter to Sen. Michael Enzi (R, Wyo.), NACDS bestowed its first "Community Pharmacy Great Communicator" designation on him to recognize his comments on the Senate floor about the important role of community pharmacy in improved patient outcomes.

The Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA) has released new data guidelines for electronic data interchange (EDI) that are designed to help distributors more efficiently provide inventory, sales, and other product information to manufacturers.

NCPA has launched OwnershipRx, an on-line resource offering pharmacy owners financial and educational tools to improve store management.

The FDA's plan to extend the current black box warning on antidepressants has met with opposition from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), a patient-run organization. The group charges that adding a warning of the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in young people between the ages of 18 and 24 years could lead to higher numbers of untreated patients and potential for an increased risk of suicide.

According to the results of an exclusive on-line survey conducted by Drug Topics, an overwhelming majority, pharmacists support a pathway for follow-on or generic biologics.

The FDA has issued a warning to the drug industry as a whole to ensure that the nation's supply of glycerin is not contaminated with diethylene glycol (DEG), a known poison that can cause death if accidentally ingested. Drug manufacturers, suppliers, drug repackers, and health professionals who compound medications are instructed to test glycerin for contamination prior to its use in the manufacture or preparation of pharmaceutical products.

The FDA is advising consumers not to purchase or use True Man and Energy Max products promoted and sold as dietary supplements throughout the U.S. Both products—touted as sexual enhancement aids and treatments for erectile dysfunction (ED)—are illegal products that contain potentially harmful, undeclared ingredients.

Medicaid prescription reimbursement information by state

Latebreakers: First bird flu vaccine approved

The use of intravenous (IV) syringes for non-IV applications such as enteral feedings poses many risks, especially for the pediatric and neonatal population which has a majority of their oral and enteral doses provided through a gastric tube. The Baxa Corporation recently announced the launch of a new educational campaign to make healthcare providers aware of these problems and offer solutions.

In 1951 pharmacies selling tobacco products was highly profitable for pharmacies, which were concerned with the increased use of local taxes on the products.

New drugs pending for prostate cancer: sipuleucel-T; DCVax-Prostate; satraplatin

Michigan ranks among top states in teen abuse of Rx drugs The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and local Detroit experts urged parents to take action against the alarmingly high rate of teen prescription drug abuse in Michigan.

UnitedHealth Pharmaceutical Solutions (UHPS) lowered the co-pay for CFC-free brand-name inhalers.

According to a study by PBM Express Scripts, spending on biotech drugs increased 21% in 2006.

The FDA and manufacturer Acorda Therapeutics have made changes to the Contraindications and Warnings sections of the prescribing information for tizanidine (Zanaflex), regarding coadministration with CYP1A2 inhibitors.

On April 10, CVS workers employed at the West Grand Boulevard location in Detroit became the third group to seek representation by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 876.

NACDS has issued a new study on new product introductions, chartered by the NACDS Advisory Board and conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Texas pharmacists concerned with CMS’ upcoming switch to average manufacturers price (AMP) for calculating generic drug reimbursement for Medicaid are looking to the state legislature to boost the dispensing fee.

AARP and Consumers Union are backing two N.Y. bills that would impose limitations on drug marketing and lobbying.

A bipartisan group of Governors from eight states sent a letter to Congress pressing them to pass biogenerics legislation.

USP created the Pharmaceutical Ingredient Verification Program in response to increasing concerns throughout the industry about the quality and consistency of pharmaceutical ingredients.

A measure to expand Oregon?s prescription drug discount program to allow small businesses and labor unions to buy medicine for their employees through the program was signed into law by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

Workers' compensation claims processor WorkingRx and Jopari Solutions, a developer of electronic billing systems, have implemented an end-to-end system for the electronic processing of pharmacy workers? compensations bills.

Beginning July 1, physicians will be able to delegate prescriptive authority to physician assistants (PAs) in Indiana.

A 72-year-old pharmacist, Sanford Kessler of Alvin's Pharmacy in Teaneck, N.J., has been charged with illegally selling sample medications to the public. Kessler has denied the charges.

DEA plans to make N-phenethyl-4-piperidone (NPP) a List I chemical in an effort to control the illicit manufacture of fentanyl, a schedule II controlled substance.