Chain Pharmacy

Summer brings picnics, hikes, and trips to the water, along with sunburn, bug bites, and dry, itchy skin. For all that exposed skin, manufacturers offer several new skin-care aids.

Many pharmacies across the country have adopted new policies and procedures that focus more on patient care and outcomes. Included among these new options is administration of vaccines.

Most of us probably didn't pay a lot of attention to business majors when we were in college. Unfortunately, the business majors have far more influence over the practice of pharmacy today than pharmacists do, and it's going to be up to them to find a way out of the pickle our profession finds itself in.

A survey of new Rx, new generic, and new OTC products

In every pharmacy, continuous quality improvement is an essential safeguard. For two approaches that guarantee best practices, read on.

Numerous studies show that patients benefit from medication therapy management (MTM) services provided by pharmacists. The drawback to many programs is that it is financially difficult to offer them. In Wisconsin, however, clinical and retail pharmacists participating in the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin's (PSW) MTM pilot project are reimbursed for the time they spend reviewing patients' formulary or explaining how patients should use drugs.

Although the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) creates an abbreviated approval pathway for biological products that are demonstrated to be ?highly similar? (biosimilar) to or ?interchangeable? with an FDA-approved biological product, only time will tell how long it will take for these biosimilars to reach the marketplace.

A systematic review assessing the comparative effectiveness of oral anti-diabetic drugs for preventing patients at high risk from progressing to type 2 diabetes has found glitazones (pioglitazone, rosiglitazone), biguanides (metformin), and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors (AGIs; acarbose, voglibose) reduced the relative risk of diabetes by as much as 63%, whereas insulin secretagogues (sulfonylureas and glinides) had no effect.

Sens. Kay R. Hagan (D-N.C.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) have introduced The Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Expanded Benefits Act, a bill that will allow seniors with one chronic illness to thoroughly review all their medications with a pharmacist in a one-on-one session.

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 greatly reduced FDA involvement in assessing the safety of dietary supplements, leaving pharmacists with the problem of obtaining accurate information with which to advise patients.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) skin patches containing low doses of estrogen carry less risk of stroke than oral therapy and may represent a safer alternative.

In the first of its "FDA Drug Info Rounds," a new series of educational videos for pharmacists, FDA is tackling unapproved dispensing of colchicine.

Inhaled insulin may be making a comeback. That's the hope at MannKind, a California-based biopharmaceutical company developing a rapid-acting inhaled insulin known as Afrezza (insulin human rDNA origin).

A survey of new Rx, new generic, and new OTC products

The Drug Enforcement Administration has released its long-awaited interim final rule for electronic prescribing of controlled substances.

A ballot initiative moving toward approval in North Dakota could open the doors to chain pharmacy in the state.

Pharmacists now have another way to obtain continuing education credits for diabetes management.

The first non-drug treatment for severe asthma that is not well controlled by anti-inflammatory medicines won FDA approval April 27.

In the business world, it just seems like common sense that you dictate to your customers at your extreme peril. Even when you think God is on your side.

Bumps, bruises, and scrapes happen - especially during the summer months when knees and elbows are bare and so much time is spent outdoors. Many first-aid products can help.

Pharmacy directors who want to - or have to - operate 24/7 but don't have the staff to cover all 3 shifts have a new ally, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).

The number of e-prescriptions filled last year soared 181% to 191 million, according to "Advancing Healthcare in America," a report issued by Surescripts in Alexandria, Va.

As Americans increasingly turn to vitamins and herbal supplements as alternatives to prescription drug use, medical professionals and government leaders worry that few realize the implications.

Which drugs were most popular in 2009? Check out Drug Topics' list of the Top 200 generic drugs in 2009, ranked by total prescriptions.

Which drugs were most popular in 2009? Check out Drug Topics' lists of the Top 200 generic drugs in 2009, ranked by retail dollars.