Community Practice

The FDA has approved zoledronic acid (Reclast, Novartis) injection as the first new treatment in nearly a decade for patients with the bone condition Paget's disease

CDHP participants were less likely than traditional health plan enrollees to change behavior and take advantage of cost-saving generic drugs, instead opting to curtail brand-medication use.

Yes. Group purchasing organizations help hospitals lower the cost of providing quality patient care, and every hospital can benefit from joining a GPO. GPOs help hospitals obtain the best price on medications and supplies, realize opportunities for cost savings, and access information that can help improve supply-chain performance.

On April 30, 1939, the World's Fair opened in New York City. The theme for the fair was "building the world of tomorrow," and pharmacists were ready to do just that.

Following guidelines issued by the American Pharmacists Association in February, the federal government has also issued guidelines on the disposal of medications.

CMS has issued a final rule establishing a competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) furnished to Medicare beneficiaries under Part B.

Two high-quality reports in the New England Journal of Medicine confirming the risk of valvulopathy with the use of pergolide (Permax, Valiant) have led the FDA to remove the drug from the U.S. market. Two generic forms of the drug, made by Teva and Par Pharmaceuticals, will also be withdrawn.

Trimethobenzamide-containing suppositories are the next product in line to hit the FDA's chopping block as part of the agency's ongoing effort to ensure that all marketed drugs have been officially approved. The rectally administered treatment of nausea and vomiting has been available under the brand names Tigan, Tebamide, Trimazide, Trimethobenz, and T-Gen.

The FDA plans to conduct a study to evaluate the quantity and quality of consumer medication information.

NACDS has named Christopher P. Krese as senior VP of marketing, communications, and media relations.

Take Care Health now operates 49 clinics in five states.

In another move to bolster its position with pharmacy self-service kiosks or ATM-like machines, Parata Systems has acquired Amistar and its Distributed Delivery Networks Corp.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association's (CHPA) educational foundation, the Consumer Health Education Center, has launched a national education campaign to help mature Americans better mange their health, specifically regarding the OTCs they use.

Bar-coding technology, high-speed networks, and Intranets were the top technologies that respondents to a Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) survey said they intend to implement over the next two years.

According to a recent statement released by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the low reimbursement rates from insurance companies to providers for the cost of providing vaccines to children is a risk to their health.

Voluntary nationwide consumer recall of all lots of the Glacier Mint and Bubble Blast flavors of Listerine Agent Cool Blue Plaque-Detecting Rinse.

RediClinicLLC has entered into a 50-50 partnership with Memorial Hermann, called RCMH LLC, for the operation of all RediClinics in the Greater Houston area.

Less than two months before a May 23 deadline, CMS has finally offered public recognition that many healthcare providers may not be ready for the changeover to the National Provider Identifier (NPI) standards.

Letters from Drug Topics' readers

Antipsychotic agents have long been integral to the management of schizophrenia. First-generation, "conventional" antipsychotics are high-affinity antagonists of dopamine D2 receptors. Although they are effective against antipsychotic symptoms, they are also associated with a high rate of neurologic adverse effects. Such effects include tardive dyskinesia and extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS).

The clinical success of an ongoing pay-for-performance (P4P) pilot project by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires extensive participation by health-system pharmacists.

Improvement of restricted drug distribution systems (RDDS) should be a key element of the reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA).

Pharmacy OneSource has a new Web-based software, called Sentri7, that can monitor medication, laboratory, and patient data.

Pediatric patients are disproportionately affected by improper and wrong-dose errors in perioperative settings.

Now that we have electronic record technology, how should we set up a postmarketing surveillance system for drugs, biologicals, and medical devices?