Community Practice

AVA Pharmaceuticals announced that it has settled a patent infringement suit with Impax Laboratories and Purdue Pharma regarding Impax's generic versions of Purdue's OxyContin.

The FTC launched a civil investigation requesting that Bristol-Myers Squibb turn over key documents and information surrounding a reverse-payment deal it and Sanofi-Aventis made with generic firm Apotex to delay market entry of generic clopidogrel bisulfate (Plavix).

Patients with protein C deficiency will now have a new treatment available to them

A study of physicians has found that many report facing significant barriers to fully implementing e-prescribing.

A new report from the Campaign for America's Future argues that Medicare Part D and beneficiaries would save $30 billion in prescription drug costs if the federal government negotiated Medicare drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.

Combination vaccine providing coverage for both hepatitis A and B, can now be administered in an accelerated dosing schedule.

X-rays performed with iodine dye increases risk for kidney failure in patients with impaired kidney function.

Rhophylac, an anti-D Rh immunoglobulin, has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)

Consumers who have used retail clinics are open to treatment for a wider range of medical treatments

Taking excessive doses of a common vitamin in an attempt to defeat drug screening tests may send the user to the hospital

Would you like to receive updated drug labeling information electronically, rather than in paper insert form? The FDA is planning a hearing to explore this issue.

Rite Aid pharmacies have launched a two-month initiative to help allergy sufferers understand, minimize, and manage reactions to allergens.

New Mexico has become the 12th state to legalize medical marijuana

Brand pharmaceuticals that will lose their patents through 2009.

Pharmacists Planning Service Inc. (PPSI) honors former Surgeon General Richard Carmona, M.D., and Julie Gerberding, M.D., director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CVS Corp. and Caremark Rx have formally closed their merger, creating the nation's premier integrated pharmacy services provider.

Financial barriers to health care represent a common and potent risk factor for patients who have had acute myocardial infarctions.

The SudaScan system logs, tracks, and reports sales of select OTC cough/cold products containing pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine. These ingredients are used in manufacturing methamphetamine.

Charleston, W.V., is the market with the highest incidence of people who purchased medicine for diabetes over the past year, according to Scarborough Research. Of consumers in this market, 15% are diabetes medication purchasers, followed by Knoxville, Tenn. (14%), Memphis (11%), Columbus, Ohio (11%), and Tulsa, Okla. (11%).

SMARxT Disposal is a program to educate consumers about new prescription drug-disposal guidelines.

DA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., recently told a group of attendees of the Consumer Healthcare Product Association's annual executive conference in Naples, Fla., that in order to increase consumer access to healthcare products, stakeholders should explore "new ways that might include the opportunity to think through and pursue the process of a third class of drugs regulated by FDA."

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has adopted the unanimous recommendations of its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices for the use of Gardasil.

The cholesterol-fighting drug simvastatin, the generic equivalent of Zocor, will be added to the list of drugs included in Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield's GenericSelect pharmacy program.

Synder's Drug Stores has selected Trintech Group's ReconNET On-Demand and the DataFlow Transaction Network to streamline reconciliation processes across its enterprise.

ASHP wants pharmacists in hospital and health-system pharmacy to report problems they encounter with bar-coded medications. They want to know if those problems interrupt patient care or pharmacy efficiency.