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As he has been doing for years, Richard Peters, R.Ph., pharmacy manager of Glen Raven Pharmacy in Burlington, N.C., arrived at work early to prepare for the day ahead. Imagine his surprise when he reads the daily blogs on his Internet home page on Sept. 30 and learns of the voluntary withdrawal of the blockbuster arthritis drug rofecoxib (Vioxx, Merck), from U.S. and worldwide markets. By 9:05 am the calls start pouring in from panicked customers. "What's this about Vioxx?" "What's going to happen to me? I've been taking Vioxx for so long!"

Black box warnings to be added to all antidepressants

Methadone is the latest chronic pain medication to be called a killer. The New York Times, National Public Radio, and other media outlets point to a growing death toll involving methadone. So do a handful of state pharmacy boards.

Cholesterol is one of the hottest health topics this year. Almost everybody—from healthcare professionals to patients to drug companies to politicians—has been talking about it.

A Food & Drug Administration advisory panel has recommended black-box alerts for commonly used antidepressants, warning that the drugs increase the risk of suicide when used in children and adolescents.

The popular PBS television series, "History Detectives," has raised awareness of the challenges of documenting oral history. Pharmacy's own history detective, A. Jean Matuszak, can attest to the satisfaction of solving some mysteries from the past.

Has one pharmacy employee ever improperly shared his or her password with another employee? Do any of your patient profiles incorrectly reflect a pharmacist's initials as the dispenser of a prescription because the R.Ph. did not "log off" before leaving the Rx department?

With drug counterfeiting growing at an alarming rate both in the United States and abroad, it was appropriate that this subject was addressed at the recent Federation Internationale Pharmaceutique (FIP) annual meeting, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress 2004, held in New Orleans. FIP is a worldwide organization of national professional associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.

With drug counterfeiting growing at an alarming rate both in the United States and abroad, it was appropriate that this subject was addressed at the recent Federation Internationale Pharmaceutique (FIP) annual meeting, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences World Congress 2004, held in New Orleans. FIP is a worldwide organization of national professional associations of pharmacists and pharmaceutical scientists.

Unless you've been living under a rock, as a healthcare professional, you must have heard something about the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. The first phase is already in full swing, with seniors selecting from a plethora of discount cards.

The prairie stone is a rock that is indigenous to Minnesota, and it is also the stone used to create the mortar and pestle. So when it came to naming their new Minneapolis-based pharmacy chain, the company's three partners found it a no-brainer. They dubbed it PrairieStone Pharmacy.

In 2003, more than 3.2 billion prescriptions were filled; that's an increase of more than 65% since 1992. This good news comes from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation's recently released 2004 Chain Pharmacy Industry Profile.

How is it going today?" This is a question that management likes to ask in the pharmacy. She walks in, uninvited, flashing a big smile. You know this is going to take up time you do not have. If you're lucky, she notices you are busy, waits patiently, and asks her question when you're between tasks.

Hoping to create a little buzz in the senior set about Medicare prescription drug discount cards, Uncle Sam is-for the first time-helping beneficiaries do some comparison-shopping.

Uncle Sam's belated recognition that pharmacists play a critical role in managing patients' medications is why Medicare's top administrator intends to encourage seniors to use their local retail pharmacy as a point of care when the prescription drug benefit goes live in 2006.

Costs of the research, development, and approval of new veterinary pharmaceuticals continue to rapidly increase. Thus, many manufacturers of veterinary drugs are looking to agents already licensed for human use to fill their pipeline of new products.

A recent survey found that 14% of heart failure patients with prescription drug coverage chose not to fill an Rx in the prior year due to cost. Now the findings of a new survey suggest that many of the sickest patients do not tell their healthcare providers what they are doing. Cost-related medication underuse: Do patients with chronic illnesses tell their doctors? was published in the Sept. 13 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

In today's society being tall is considered an asset, but for people with acromegaly, excessive growth is a symptom of a serious condition, oftentimes misdiagnosed. Excessive perspiration, extreme fatigue, headaches, generalized aches and pains, vision and sleep disturbances ... the widespread nature of these symptoms often leads patients to see different physicians of varying specialties. It is not until the symptoms of overgrowth and disfigurement of body parts develop that thought is given to the diagnosis of acromegaly.

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Zometa linked to osteonecrosis of the jaw

Problem: The Food & Drug Administration would like to alert healthcare providers to medication errors involving confusion between Metadate ER and Metadate CD. Practitioners should be cautious when

It is estimated that symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persist into adulthood in 50% to 60% of those diagnosed with the condition in childhood and adolescence. According to researchers, more than eight million adults in the United States have ADHD .

CMS revises ASP calculation for Medicare Part B

R.Ph.s react to new overtime regs

Truvada from Gilead is a new drug just approved for HIV.

Breaking News for Sept. 13, 2004

USP holds meeting in Baltimore to discuss the establishment of a formulary for Medicare Part D