Community Practice

All hospital and health systems must decide whether to use multiple-dose vials or single-dose vials of drugs, a decision that usually rests on two considerations: Cost reduction and patient safety. The pros and cons of the two systems lead to an inescapable conclusion.

Working with healthcare professionals and the public, the FDA is developing new guidelines for prevention of medication misuse and abuse and other medication errors linked to preventable harm.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) may recommend that healthcare workers, including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, be transferred from positions where they handle hazardous drugs if the workers are trying to conceive, are pregnant, and/or breastfeeding.

In the prescription drug market, discriminatory pricing is common for independent community pharmacies and their patients. This fall, a Federal District Court in New York will consider a critical case: Drug Mart Pharmacy Corp. et a. v. American Home Products Corp. et al. The outcome of the case may determine whether discriminatory pricing techniques are illegal.

Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Express Scripts Inc., and The St. Louis College of Pharmacy are giving 35 high school students their first look at pharmacy careers in the BESt Summer Pharmacy Institute program.

Schnucks Markets plans to get customers into its pharmacy departments with the addition of EyeSite vision-screening kiosks. Thirty kiosks were recently added to its grocery stores in the St. Louis area.

More than 60 million Americans experience heartburn at least once a month, and at least 25 million suffer on a daily basis. A Nielson study reported early in 2009 announced that 94 percent of patients are satisfied with their OTC remedies. The study estimated that OTC medications annually save patients an average total of $174 each in office visits and medication costs. Because of fewer patient visits top physicians, the study attributes $757 million in annual savings to the U.S. healthcare system.

A survey of new Rx and new OTC

Instead of giving out cards that reduce the copay of a prescription, why not just decrease the price per bottle of medication?

With the subject of healthcare reform on the front burner in Washington and across the country, Drug Topics invited members of its Frontline editorial advisory board to share their thoughts. A selection of their responses is presented here.

Unkempt appearance is often the pharmacist's first clue that a drug-chaser has entered the store.

A second round of revised quality standards for heparin became effective recently, the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention has announced.

The products pharmacists discuss most often with patients are oral pain-relief products, lip balms, and cold-sore preparations, according to an exclusive Drug Topics survey of pharmacists.

The CEO and COO of American Associated Pharmacies, the product of the merger between Associated Pharmacies and United Drugs, talk about the new pharmacy cooperative and the future of community pharmacies.

Hospitals and health systems have taken the lead in expanding the role of pharmacy technicians. "The better educated techs are, the more they can support pharmacists," says Mary Mohr, RPh, MS, of Clarian Health.

Each year, pharmacists who offer special services are recognized by their peers and wholesalers through nominations for Drug Topics' annual Top Independent Pharmacists awards in categories pertaining to service, competition, crisis response, and merchandising/promotion. This year's awards honor pharmacists in Washington State, North Carolina, Illinois, and New York.

Pharmacy should be part of any team evaluating an outpatient center. Effective communication between physicians, hospital administrators, pharmacists, and nursing staff is crucial to whether the infusion center will succeed.

Everyone seems to realize that when the lady being a pain in the neck carries a Gucci handbag, she's someone who helps pay the pharmacy's bills. Not so many people seem to realize that this is equally true of the lady carrying the Medicaid card.

The one condition that is probably shared by most pharmacists can harm marriages, health, and jobs. But it comes with the job, so what do we do about that?

Financial planning for pharmacists requires a basic understanding of types of financial professionals, fee structures, and values.

A survey of new Rx, new indications, new generics, and new OTC

The FDA recently alerted pharmacists to medication error reports about mefloquine (Lariam) prescriptions calling for 250 mg daily rather than the recommended dose of 250 mg weekly for malaria prophylaxis.

With a mail-order pharmacy license granted by the West Virginia Board of Pharmacy, West Virginia Rx becomes the largest charity pharmacy in the nation.

Pharmacists speak out about radio broadcasts, name-calling, generics, and chronic pain

The FDA can require risk evaluation and mitigation strategies for certain prescription drugs and biological products, to ensure that the benefits of such products outweigh the risks. The effect of REMS ripples down through the supply chain to affect how pharmacies dispense medication.

When manufacture of biogenerics is a legal reality, brand manufacturers will still retain a strong market share for several years.

The FDA has announced the availability of the first draft guidance for industry on Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies.

CVS recently celebrated the grand opening of its 7,000th store in Little Canada, Minn. Continue reading for the full story.

On October 1, the 7,000th Walgreens store opened in Brooklyn, N.Y., amid festivities that included free health screenings and speeches from Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson and Borough President Marty Golden.

As the most accessible members of the healthcare team, pharmacists in Maryland are being offered an opportunity to train in preparation for a predicted H1N1 flu pandemic.