Who will stand up for pharmacy?
February 10th 2014An 89-year-old woman walked 3,200 miles in 14 months for a cause she believed in - and then got herself hauled off to jail for reading the Declaration of Independence in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. If she could show up for her cause, suggests Kim Ankenbruck, RPh, what are we willing to do for ours?
Compounding pharmacies bring health plan lawsuit
September 15th 2013Massachusetts' Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has instituted a policy shift excluding coverage of prescription drugs compounded for adults. Plaintiffs call this "a callous decision" and "a major blow" to the state's many patients who depend on compounded medications.
An update on insulin resistance and use of U-500 insulin
August 15th 2013Insulin resistance can be described as a decrease in sensitivity or a decreased biological response to insulin. No single etiological explanation has been described for insulin resistance because of the unique associations with cardiovascular risk, obesity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Research has shown that the pathogenesis of insulin resistance results from either lipid accumulation, the contribution of systemic inflammation, or through genetic mutations involving autoantibodies to the insulin receptor.
The ethics of a “Just Culture”
August 15th 2013The primary ethical obligation of a pharmacist is to avoid harm by filling each prescription correctly. For this reason, pharmacies, pharmacy organizations, and boards of pharmacy have adopted and espoused the principles of continuous quality improvement.
Emergency contraceptive’s curious path to OTC
August 15th 2013In June 2013, the Department of Justice under the Obama administration announced an end to its lawsuits regarding age restrictions on “Plan B One-Step” (levonorgestrel), the morning-after pill. The DOJ decided not to appeal the ruling by Judge Edward Korman of the District Court of Eastern New York.