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Now that the water has receded in New Orleans and other gulf coast communities in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, cleanup and rebuilding efforts are virtually just beginning.

Concerned about the potential impact that Medicaid budget cuts will have on health care, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association have formed the Coalition for Meaningful Medicaid Reform (CMMR).

I belong to the Vermont Pharmacists Association (VPA). It is a fine organization. The officers encourage us to become politically active. The association puts on periodic meetings with interesting CEs and always a great lunch. I'm glad I joined, but I know very well that a small pharmacist group from the second smallest state can have only limited impact.

While American pharmacies are bracing for the onslaught of Medicare Part D, Canadian mail-order operators are worrying that their first and best customers may be lured away by the siren song of the new prescription drug benefit.

Lawmakers crafting the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) intentionally created incentives favoring the use of formularies based on the premise that competition among manufacturers would lower program cost. CMS subsequently issued regulations about formularies and cost-sharing strategies that would balance the needs of persons with Medicare against the cost-control measures typically imposed by PBMs.

Pharmacists participating in the Community CareRx (CCRx) Medicare prescription drug plan will be paid not only for their clinical expertise but also for their financial advice that helps beneficiaries select the most economical medications that are right for them.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) launched the first global evidence-based guidelines for Type 2 diabetes at the September meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, in Athens.

In a late-stage clinical trial, Merck's investigational quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil, showed the vaccine is capable of preventing 100% of high-grade cervical precancers known as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) as well as noninvasive cervical cancers, such as adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), associated with HPV types 16 and 18. More than 12,000 women between the ages of 16 and 26 participated in the prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, know as Future II.

Although estrogen replacement therapy is still the most effective way to manage menopausal symptoms, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. A new option, however, should be available in pharmacies by mid-2006.

Concerned that less than 1% of independent pharmacies belong to the SureScripts electronic prescribing network, the National Community Pharmacists Association has urged its members to get into the connectivity game.

Congress is one step closer to cutting billions of dollars from the Medicaid budget, by reducing pharmacies' reimbursement, increasing patients' co-pays, and other measures. Committees in both houses have approved their own budget bill, which must be reconciled in the weeks ahead. Both NACDS and NCPA protested that the cuts affect community pharmacies disproportionately. NCPA said up to 40% of community pharmacies could close their doors and many Medicaid patients would lose access to care. for earlier story on Medicaid.

Public interest groups to FDA: Ban triclosan products Expert panel reevaluates DEHP Wyeth files petition over bio-identical HRT Kentucky Renaissance Pharmacy Museum opens Personal Products to acquire Rembrandt from Gillette Delsym launches campaign to healthcare professionals Abbott issues urgent correction for blood glucose meters Genco acquires Capital Returns Walgreens to acquire selected assets of Medic drugstores Tennessee pharmacy school names first dean Express Scripts completes Priority purchase VA warns vets of Rx scam Public Citizen to FDA: ED drugs need black box warning Rite Aid offering flu, pneumonia shots

Discriminatory pricing suit brings results Insulin cleared for use among children USP to reassess its Medicare formulary guidelines NQF issues new report on drug compliance ShopKo to be acquired by Sun Capital Partners Watson becomes distributor of generic OxyContin FDA gives update on influenza vaccine supply States protest contributions to drug plan

In the mid-1800s, Lady Sarah Winchester spearheaded the building of the bizarre California mansion that bears her name. While she did have a flair for design, her spontaneous plans and the results proved chaotic. Staircases led nowhere. Many doors opened to walls or steep drops, and a few bathroom doors had windows. The Victorian anomaly may be fun to visit, but it would be frustrating to live in.

Early in his pharmacy career Victor Perini, R.Ph., hadn't planned on becoming a hospital executive. But as he reflects on his current position as VP of operations at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, Perini attributes his rise in the executive ranks to a combination of taking advantage of the right opportunities when they came along and the comprehensive training that he received in pharmacy school at the University of Wisconsin.

Of the 3,197 sentinel events JCAHO has reviewed from January 1995 through June 30, 2005, almost 11%, or 326 incidents, involved a medication error, making it the fourth most common type of sentinel event reported.

Baxter Healthcare Corp. has received a second Food & Drug Administration Class 1 recall in less than four months for its Colleague Volumetric Infusion Pumps. The FDA's Sept. 19 recall relates to pump battery excessive discharge and swelling failures, which cause the devices to become incapable of operating on battery power for the expected amount of time. This leads to interruption or prevention of therapy and possible death or injury. Baxter said it has received reports from customers that the problem may have been associated with four deaths and 10 serious injuries.

VHA has resurrected a familiar method for hospitals to save money: Trim pharmacy costs. But instead of urging its 2,400 member hospitals to simply slash pharmacy budgets, the not-for-profit hospital alliance is helping members save by shifting prescribing practices.

What's in a name? Plenty, it seems, when it comes to medications.

A huge focus on patient safety, a severe nursing shortage, and a shift in philosophy about how traditional medicine has come to view the role of pharmacy have led to health-system pharmacists playing a much larger role in critical care and emergency medicine. Nationwide, especially at large tertiary care centers, pharmacists have become permanent and welcome members of healthcare teams in intensive care units, trauma centers, and coronary care units. The demand for pharmacists is so great that some facilities have developed critical care residencies for pharmacists.

Current safe-handling procedures for vials containing chemotherapy products are apparently insufficient. Recent U.S. and European tests have determined that product residues adhering to the outside of chemotherapy vials are a pharmacy hazard.

Even though the law was adopted two years ago, many pharmacists are just now waking up to the fact that there's a Medicare prescription drug benefit heading straight for their pharmacy counters, according to the president of the American Pharmacists Association.

The statin drugs have so thoroughly dominated the market for treating high cholesterol levels and dyslipidemia that many in the healthcare community may need to be reminded that other medications still have their place. Patients who cannot regulate their lipid levels by means of lifestyle changes or for whom statins are not sufficiently effective can be treated with drugs such as fibrates, niacin, and with combination therapies.

A new, gel-based, delivery system containing a common benzodiazepine may provide a needed safety net for patients with epilepsy who are refractory to traditional mono- and combination pharmacotherapy and who experience bouts of increased seizure activity. Last month, Valeant Pharmaceuticals announced that it had received Food & Drug Administration approval to market Diastat AcuDial (diazepam rectal gel).

Drug wholesalers should be licensed by the federal government instead of state pharmacy boards, according to a position paper issued by the Healthcare Distribution Management Association (HDMA).

Nevada mandates Rx transfer Wal-Mart tops with Medicare crowd Longs Drug Stores raises funds for hurricane victims Survey: Women at risk of taking pregnancy test too early Wyeth's smallpox vaccine to carry black box warning MedVantx forms alliance with Aetna Specialty pharmacies change hands Pharmacy board executives leaving Second expert resigns over FDA delay on Plan B FDA removes sinusitis indication from OTCs Bristol-Myers Squibb reports BiCNU outage Berlex donates Rx medication to hurricane victims Keltsch Pharmacy changes name

As this editorial goes to press, we're hearing the first details about which Medicare prescription drug plans (PDPs) have received approval from CMS.