A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recently voted to keep the GlaxoSmithKline drug Avandia on the market. The diabetes medication has come under fire recently for allegations that it can increase the risk of heart attack for users. The panel first voted 21-4 that Avandia is more likely to cause heart attack than its […]
Current laws in North Dakota require that pharmacists own at least 51% of the operating pharmacy. The impact of the law has been the exclusion of large pharmacy chains in the state. The only chain pharmacy in the state, CVS, has six locations and was grandfathered into the current law. An initiative scheduled to hit […]
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) has rallied behind the “Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Expanded Benefits Act of 2010”. Introduced by Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Al Franken (D-MN), the bill seeks to expand MTM to specific Medicare patients. Those with chronic illnesses would be eligible for a medication review and consultations with a pharmacist to […]
Last Tuesday, drug makers Pfizer and Glaxo signed a ten year deal to provide vaccines at a reduced cost to poor, developing nations. The deal sets the supply of pneumococcal vaccines at 60 million per year for a ten year period. The deal was set up by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) […]
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) began in the mid-1970s with the goal of tracking and investigating medication errors. Through voluntary reporting they review and investigate over 1000 medication errors each year. The most common problems notes are not the pharmacists but the process of medication prescription and use. Examples of breakdowns include, “look-alike […]
Thieves recently broke into an Eli Lilly warehouse in Enfield, Connecticut and made off with an estimated $75 million in prescription drugs. The thieves entered the warehouse at night by cutting a hole in the roof and rappelling down to the ground below. At that point they disabled the alarm system and were able to […]
Medical marijuana use is increasing across the United States. Currently, fourteen states have provisions and laws that allow the regulated use of medical marijuana. Twelve additional states have legislation pending that will make allowances for medical use and that number is likely to increase substantially over the next several years. Although the federal government still […]
Governor Brian Schweitzer (D) of Montana is seeking permission to set up purchasing agreements with Canadian drug suppliers for the state’s Medicaid program. His goal is to set up an agreement with a wholesaler to furnish the discounted prescriptions to local pharmacies where the state would complete the purchase. Schweitzer estimates that the move could […]
