A new collaboration may help a universal patient identifier (UPI) become a reality in the US. The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) is the newest client to sign up for the free service, which can help to increase patient safety and decrease record duplication. In this project, clients send their master patient index […]
The Chicago Tribune recently published a shocking investigative report showing that many pharmacies are failing to warn people about potentially deadly drug interactions when dispensing medications. Over the past two years, the Tribune tested 255 pharmacies in the Chicago region to see whether pharmacists were warning patients about drugs that were deadly or had serious […]
In an increasingly combative Congress, the 21st Century Cures Act stands out as a rare bipartisan effort. With at least 88% of legislators in both parties in the House and Senate in favor of it, it was one of the last acts signed into law by President Obama. The House Energy and Commerce Committee first […]
Esophagitis is an irritation or inflammation of the esophagus. It’s often caused by GERD, an infection, or a hiatal hernia, but sometimes it can be caused by medications. As a pharmacist, you’re in a position to catch this side effect, so it’s important to learn as much as possible about this rare but serious condition. […]
So, you’re a brand new pharmacy school graduate. You’ve suffered through hundreds of hours of medicinal chemistry, completed your rotations, and accrued $100,000+ of student loan debt on your ledger. But the hard part’s over, right? It’s time to enter that rosy pharmacy job market you heard about back when you started your PharmD program; […]
Ebola is an often-deadly virus that has plagued Africa since it was discovered in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire) in 1976. Nearly 13,000 have died since then, most of them gruesomely with extreme hemorrhaging from all bodily orifices. The deadliest season for Ebola was the 2014 outbreak which devastated […]
The rapidly rising rate of opioid overdoses is one of the United States’ direst health crises. Addiction to illicit opioids like heroin has cast a shadow over the American health landscape for decades. However, a combination of the increasing ease of availability of powerful prescription opioids like Oxycodone and Fentanyl and rising heroin usage have […]
Everyone wants to be trusted, especially in a medical profession, right? A new Gallup poll shows that pharmacists have once again been named among the most honest and ethical career professionals in the United States. In 2016’s annual poll, pharmacists were given a “high” or “very high” rating by 67% of the poll’s respondents and […]
