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Clinicians will soon be able to treat conjunctivitis using a fourth generation topical fluoroquinolone that has better activity against gram-positive organisms compared to currently available fluoroquinolones, higher potency than the other drugs in this class (except one), and better solubility than the other fluoroquinolones. The FDA recently approved moxifloxacin (Vigamox, Alcon) 0.5% ophthalmic solution for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis. Moxifloxacin ophthalmic solution should be available in pharmacies in the next several weeks.

Pharmacists hoping to become certified to train their diabetes patients to use insulin pumps must wear the devices themselves, under a project sponsored by Diabetes in Control.com.

An Arizona pharmacist claims she was fired for pumping breast milk on the job at Safeway.

At the 99th annual meeting of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Food & Drug Administration officials urged state pharmacy boards to help the agency cope with the growing number of storefront operations facilitating illegal Rx drugs pouring into the U.S. from Canada.

Should pharmacists release protected health information to patients' relatives and friends?

If cuts in Medicaid reimbursement go through in New York, as proposed by the governor, many pharmacies in the state could go out of business.

New guidelines related to treatment of Type 2 diabetics with hypertension.

The Department of Labor is proposing a revision of regualtions under the Fair Labor Standards Act that would eliminate overtime pay for R.Ph.s.

Pharmacy groups want the FDA to take a uniform approach to risk management of prescription drugs.

New Drug Checklist - Factive(Gemifloxacin) is a fluroquinolone antibiotic - used to treat bacterial lung infections.

Physicians will soon have a fourth-generation fluoroquinolone with dual activity against bacteria to treat persons with community-acquired respiratory infections. The FDA recently approved gemifloxacin (Factive, GeneSoft Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis (AECB) caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, or Moraxella catarrhalis and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) of mild-to-moderate severity caused by S. pneumoniae (including penicillin-resistant strains), H. influenzae, M. catarrhalis, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Chlamydia pneumoniae, or Klebsiella pneumoniae. Gemifloxacin will be available in pharmacies by the end of the year.

Beginning in 2004, volunteer hospitals will get unannounced visits by JCAHO surveyors. By 2006, all healthcare organizations will be subject to surprise surveys.

Pharmacists' appearance is at issue.

U.S. regulators target the new gold rush--prescription drug imports from across the border.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed pharmacists and other healthcare providers a victory in a unanimous ruling upholding Kentucky's any-willing-provider laws.

A number of new products, including two under development, are providing women with a wide range of options in hormonal contraception.

Studies show that women have more severe and longer-lasting pain, men and women respond differently to pain medications, and more women are under-treated for pain.

The incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in the United States outranks all other causes of morbidity and mortality. However, the perception still persists that CVD affects primarily men, and that women are somehow protected from it.

May's Drug Stores Chain of the Year 2003

Hospitals to get credit or check back based on manufacturers underreporting Medicaid rebates

Call for pedigree papers increases

Patent expirations, new technology, and other factors are driving the growth of novel drug delivery systems

Physicians and their patients with acromegaly will soon have access to the first drug specifically designed to block the effects of human growth hormone. The FDA recently approved pegvisomant (Somavert, Pharmacia) for the treatment of acromegaly in patients who have had an inadequate response to surgery and/or radiation therapy and/or medical therapies, or for whom those treatments are inappropriate. Pegvisomant is the first of a new class of drugs called growth hormone receptor antagonists.

Expert gives health plans a checklist of variables to consider when deciding whether to set up their own PBM or outsource it

As the American Pharmaceutical Association became the American Pharmacists Association, delegates to the group's annual meeting endorsed unit-of-use drug packaging.

assocations give advice on helping consumers prepare for an emergency at time of war

Healthcare professionals will soon be able to offer women the first vaginal estrogen product that treats both the vasomotor and vaginal symptoms of menopause. The FDA recently approved estradiol (Femring, Galen Holdings) vaginal ring for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause and treatment of moderate to severe symptoms of vulvar and vaginal atrophy associated with menopause. Femring will be available in pharmacies in June.

Ohio's Catalyst program is awarding pharmacists who cut unnecessary Medicaid drug costs in nursing homes