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Medication therapy management services (MTMS), as outlined in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA 2003), is likely to have a significant impact on pharmacy practice, Jannet Carmichael, Pharm.D., told attendees at the American College of Clinical Pharmacy annual meeting, held last month in Dallas. She is PBM manager at VISN 21 Health Care Services at the VA Sierra Pacific Network in Reno.

A severe shortage of pharmacy directors and assistant directors could put a damper on progress made by pharmacists at a time when they are poised to take commanding ownership of medication and patient-safety leadership positions in hospitals.

A workforce shortage combined with federal government funding cutbacks may complicate the lives of an incoming generation of pharmacists. So claimed two of the profession's topsiders at an ASHP leadership conference, held recently in Chicago.

Anesthesia awareness-the unexpected cognizance that occurs when anesthesia lightens during surgery-is the subject of a recent Sentinel Event Alert issued by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Forty-eight percent of patients who experience awareness report auditory recollections, 48% report being unable to breathe, and 28% report pain-without being able to communicate this to the surgical team.

With a click of a mouse, chain and independent pharmacies can find out which short-dated pharmaceutical are available from drug manufacturers, thanks to St. Louis, Mo.-based ShortMeds.

The technical safeguards focus on adopting appropriate technology (hardware and software) to guard electronic protected health information (PHI) and policies and procedures to control access to the technology.

The American Academy of Dermatology estimates that five million to six million Americans will at some point experience a skin pigmentation condition. Of all these disorders, vitiligo has the most devastating effects on the patient's psychosocial and emotional well-being. Other conditions, such as melasma and solar lentigines, may have less disabling psychological effects, but they are not inconsequential. Raising awareness of these skin disorders was recently discussed at a Galderma-sponsored luncheon in New York City.

Remember when one of the first drugs used to stimulate fertility was obtained from the urine of postmenopausal nuns, actually in the Vatican? The drug, if you recall, was Pergonal, and it was a mixture of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH).

Used with follitropin alfa to treat female infertility. This medicine is a hormone.

Two New Jersey pharmacists were among 17 suspects arrested in three states for allegedly running an OxyContin drug ring. The operation, which allegedly moved the painkiller from the mob in New Jersey to college kids in Boston, involved members of the Lucchese and Bonanno organized crime families and the Bloods street gang.

Complying with the physical safeguards under the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act may be the easiest to achieve, since you may already fulfill several of the requirements through adherence to state and federal pharmacy and drug laws.

There are many strategies that retailers can implement to better serve women shoppers, particularly in the sanitary protection, skin care, and cosmetics categories. This recommendation comes from the recently released Merchandising for Success study by the General Merchandise Distributors Council (GMDC) Educational Foundation.

Labeling revised to show orlistat reduces Type 2 diabetes risk

Busy behind the pharmacy counter, many pharmacists may think they can't enlist in the fight against increasingly bold and sophisticated counterfeiters, but there are ways they can make it tougher for fake medications to reach their patients, according to industry experts.

Instead of merely complaining about the tactics of pharmacy benefit managers, the National Community Pharmacists Association is working on a game plan to take the Rx drug benefit play away from their arch enemies.

For the estimated 70 million people in the United States suffering from insomnia the availability of a novel treatment option would be welcome relief. Takeda, which recently submitted an NDA to the FDA, hopes its compound, ramelteon (TAK-375), will meet that challenge. Ramelteon is a novel selective melatonin (ML-1) receptor antagonist developed by Takeda for the treatment of insomnia. According to the firm, this is the first new mechanism of action to be developed in 35 years in the area of sleep research.

For the estimated 70 million people in the United States suffering from insomnia the availability of a novel treatment option would be welcome relief. Takeda, which recently submitted an NDA to the FDA, hopes its compound, ramelteon (TAK-375), will meet that challenge. Ramelteon is a novel selective melatonin (ML-1) receptor antagonist developed by Takeda for the treatment of insomnia. According to the firm, this is the first new mechanism of action to be developed in 35 years in the area of sleep research.

Reaction from healthcare practitioners to the U.S. Surgeon General's recent report on fractures related to osteoporosis has been swift and generally supportive of the report's conclusions. The landmark report stated that, by 2020, one-half of all Americans older than 50 will be at increased risk for fractures from osteoporosis and low bone mass if greater measures aren't taken to improve overall bone health.

For well over a decade, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been considered the first-line treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD. In 2003, U.S. sales of the five delayed-release PPI brands totaled $12.9 billion, with total U.S. prescriptions for PPIs growing 10%, from 86.3 million in 2002 to 95.2 million in 2003, according to IMS Health.

According to Information Resources Inc. (IRI), sales of Home Health Care Kits, including blood glucose monitors, grew 2.7% to $677 million over the 52-week period ending April 19, 2004. Simultaneously, all outlets--drug, food, and mass-merchandising--posted sales gains. Increasing 6%, food outlets outpaced the other two retailers.

More than 4,000 chain pharmacist positions were open as of July 1, according to a National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation survey that's been conducted every six months since February 1998

Labeling revised to show orlistat reduces Type 2 diabetes risk

Parcopa (Schwarz Pharma) treats symptoms of Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism, such as shaking, stiffness, and slow movement.

The Food & Drug Administration has created a conundrum for short children, their parents, pharmacists, and pediatricians. The agency approved the use of human growth hormone (somatropin recombinant, Humatrope, Eli Lilly) in June 2003 to treat idiopathic shortness. But instead of clarifying which children should be treated for short stature, the FDA may have opened the door to abuse.

Tens of millions of people in the United States are affected by pain, which is associated with a variety of effects that can destroy the pain sufferer's quality of life. Treating and controlling pain is a primary concern for all members of a healthcare team. Despite the attention given to the association of opioids with drug abuse, consensus statements from experts support the use of these products to treat chronic pain. And soon a new opioid will be available for sufferers of chronic, persistent pain.

To prevent the administration of excessive amounts of analgesia medication, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pumps offer several safety features (e.g., a "lockout interval" specifies both the minimum amount of time between each dose and an established maximum allowable amount of drug during a predefined time period). Despite such advantages, medication errors involving PCA pumps continue to occur.

A pilot project examining the value of incorporating electronically transmitted patient claims data into a health-system medication dispensing process has been pronounced a success by the hospital that implemented it.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has begun a study to examine the types of counseling hospitals offer patients to help them quit smoking. The goal of the study is to identify and evaluate strategies hospitals can use to help patients who smoke to kick the habit.

Institutional pharmacists should get ready for more intensive scrutiny of their operations next year. Half of the 2005 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) set by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations are directly related to pharmacy.