Category Archives: Pharmacy

SAN FRANCISCO, April 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Health insurers should use both medical and pharmacy data to forecast specialty medication utilization and improve outcomes for members, according to a new study by pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics (Prime). The study will be presented today at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)'s 24th Annual Meeting & Expo in San Francisco. Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have experienced a rapid rise in expensive specialty prescription drug use within the past few years. In 2011, specialty drugs comprised 0.5 percent of all claims but 15.2 percent of all prescription benefit expenditures across Prime's member network. In addition, the average specialty per-prescription cost was $2,637 in 2010 and total paid per capita increased 12.9 percent from 2010 ($10.24 to $11.36 per member per month). Previous studies have estimated that specialty medication drug spend could increase from 20 percent to 50 percent by 2030, highlighting the need for health insurers to better understand how to trend and forecast these costs due to rapid growth rate. "Specialty drugs offer life-saving treatment for patients with chronic illnesses, but they also carry a huge price tag, continuing to rise by double digits each year," said Patrick Gleason, PharmD, … Continue reading →

Two Evansville residents robbed a pharmacy Friday of medication that they intended to use to make methamphetamine, according to the Vanderburgh County Sheriffs Office. Jared Matthew Beard, 24, and Lakyra Shabree Johnson, 25, were arrested shortly after the heist at Nations Pharmacy, 4849 Pollack Ave. Sheriffs deputies were dispatched to the business at 5:21 p.m. in response to a holdup alarm. They were told a masked duo had demanded pseudoephedrine. One person displayed a knife. After being given a quantity of the medication, they left in a vehicle. A witness saw the vehicle arrive at the pharmacy and two people wearing masks enter. The witness, deputies said, noticed that the license plate had been deliberately obscured and cleared off the plate to obtain the license number. Shortly after the 5:21 p.m. dispatch, a K9 unit with the sheriffs office stopped the vehicle at Lynn Road and Pollack. Deputies said they recovered medication taken in the robbery, as well as a knife. Evansville Police Department officers assisted in the arrest. According to a sheriffs office news release, Johnson told investigators Beard had attempted to buy pseudoephedrine, which is used to make methamphetamine, at several stores during the day but was refused. … Continue reading →

A man held up a Kroger pharmacy Saturday using a method police say has been used several times recently by what appears to be the same man. By: Lauren Evans | NBC 4i Published: April 07, 2012 Updated: April 07, 2012 - 11:19 PM Columbus robbery detectives believe that a robbery at a Kroger pharmacy Saturday afternoon is the latest in a series of similar robberies at local pharmacies. The latest robbery took place at 2:55 p.m. Saturday at the Kroger at 3417 N. High St. The suspect, whose image was captured on surveillance cameras, is a white male who is between 25 to 35 years old. He is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs about 165 pounds. Just as in other incidents, the suspect went to the pharmacy counter, implying he had a weapon under his shirt. He gave the clerk a list that demanded specific prescription drugs. Once the clerk brought the drugs back, the robber left the store. The suspect is wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt; thick, black-framed glasses and a Yankees ball cap with a green emblem. He has a sparse beard and mustache. Anyone with information is asked to call the robbery squad at … Continue reading →

Qatar Universitys College of Pharmacy (QU CPH) has signed a clinical training agreement with the South Carolina College of Pharmacy (USC, US) to establish a bilateral doctor of pharmacy student exchange between the institutions respective programmes. The agreement complements the 2011 agreement of co-operation signed between QU CPH and USC College of Pharmacy, facilitating faculty and student exchange, continuing professional development and collaborative research. Under the new agreement, up to five selected QU CPH doctor of pharmacy students will participate annually in four-week elective clinical/academic internships in South Carolina in a teaching hospital setting, under the mentorship of academic pharmacy clinicians. QU CPH dean Dr Peter Jewesson said this activity will further strengthen the clinical knowledge and skills of graduates by giving them exposure to healthcare delivery in a progressive international environment. It also serves to strengthen our post-baccalaureate programme, he said while observing that this exchange programme is viewed favourably by the Canadian Council for Accreditation of Pharmacy Programmes which has accredited QU CPH and its programmes, and will review the PharmD programme in December this year. On a reciprocal basis, up to five selected USC doctor of pharmacy students will participate annually in pharmacy education and practice internships … Continue reading →

Q: My husband is suffering seizures after being forced to switch to generic levetiracetam (Keppra). I can buy the brand for $735 per month, but at 62 years of age we can't afford to spend this much every month. I am afraid that one day I will lose my husband because of the seizures. This is a matter of life and death. A: Other people with epilepsy have reported seizures after being switched from Keppra to generic levetiracetam. A recent review of 89 studies found that patients with epilepsy sometimes experience seizures when they are switched from brand name to generic or between different generic manufactured products (AHRQ Comparative Effectiveness Reviews, December 2011). It is sometimes possible to get brand-name medication free from the manufacturer if you and your husband qualify for patient assistance. You also might want to explore the possibility of purchasing the brand-name drug from a reliable Canadian pharmacy. You could save quite a bit. Ask your husband's epilepsy specialist whether a ketogenic diet would be beneficial. This alternative approach requires careful medical supervision, but it may lower the amount of medication needed for seizure control. Q: I am taking niacin (1,000 mg) to improve my good … Continue reading →

Q: I read your column about using xylitol spray to ease symptoms of nasal congestion and sinusitis. Please warn your readers that xylitol is very toxic to dogs. A friend's dog got into a pack of sugar-free chewing gum sweetened with xylitol and nearly died! A: You are quite correct that the sugar substitute xylitol is dangerous for dogs. This sweetener can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar, resulting in vomiting, staggering, weakness and even seizures or coma. Xylitol-containing products such as sugar-free gum or candy should be kept where dogs can't get to them. The packaging of the product we discussed, Xlear Nasal Spray, should make it hard for dogs to ingest the solution. That said, it makes sense to keep all medications and candy out of the reach of pets. Q: I am 55 and have been taking fluticasone nasal spray year-round for allergies since about 10 years ago. I was having vision problems recently, and the ophthalmologist I saw discovered I have a posterior subcapsular cataract. That is the least common kind of cataract, but it affects vision the most. The doctor kept asking if I'd taken steroids or had trauma to my eye. I didn't … Continue reading →

BRUNSWICK, Maine A Brunswick pharmacy has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for faulty record-keeping practices involving controlled substances which came to light during an investigation into a former employees alleged theft of prescription drugs. Medical Center Pharmacys attorney, Peter DeTroy of the Portland law firm Norman, Hanson and DeTroy, said Thursday the fine against the pharmacy was small in comparison to at least $140,000 in losses suffered by the business in an alleged theft scheme perpetrated by a former employee. The discovery of the former employees theft led to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency investigation and the federal charges against the pharmacy. Those charges have been dropped as a result of Thursdays $10,000 settlement. Theyve been sort of twice victimized, said DeTroy of the pharmacys owner, Susan Anderson. There have been significant financial consequences for them. They obviously feel pretty burned by this whole situation. According to DeTroy and the Bangor Daily News archives, the thefts were uncovered in April 2010 when the pharmacy owners confronted employee Doris Bourque, 59, of Topsham about missing Tussionex, which is used to treat cold and flu symptoms. DeTroy said Bourque, who first took the drug after a medical procedure, admitted to stealing … Continue reading →

BOSTON (WHDH) -- Sutherland Pharmacy was closed and securely locked Friday night but earlier in the day the pharmacy was terrorized by an armed robber. The man stormed in with a gun and he was not interested in stealing money. A fellow came in, they were quite busy and he said This is a robbery, all he wanted was drugs and he had his own bag and he made the pharmacist give him drugs, said Melvin Trevens, Sutherland Pharmacy owner. Trevens was not at the pharmacy at the time of the robbery but he was told that the robber wore a mask and had a gun. There were no customers inside at the time. No one was hurt but Trevens said the man terrorized his employees. He made the girls lie on the ground and he left the store, said Trevens. The owner said the suspect is six feet, 2 inches tall and about 30-years-old. He said he wants the man caught for his employees peace of mind. Theyre very shook up, when I got there they were all crying, said Trevens. There was no comment from police Friday night but they did say there was a very active investigation. … Continue reading →

The provincial Pharmacy Board has issued an alert notice to pharmacists about the possible improper use of products containing DM, such as most cough syrups. In early March, coroners in Quebec requested that pharmacists keep products containing the cough suppressant DM (dextromethorphan) behind the counter after the deaths of two men. They died within a month of each other, one from an overdose of cough syrup with DM, and the other who took cough syrup in combination with Prozac and the antibiotic Biaxin. Board spokesperson Don Rowe says the common cough suppressant is safe when used appropriately, but is sometimes abused. He says young people are known to take DM products in large doses to get high. The Board recommends that if a pharmacist suspects inappropriate purchasing of DM products, then they should move them behind the counter for closer monitoring and control. Rowe says a man from the Kilbride area called the board yesterday to report that he had found a large number of empty packages on his property, which once contained gelcaps. He says the man found between 40-60 packages of Robitussin DM Gelcap 20's scattered on the ground when cleaning up his property in the Old Petty … Continue reading →

HEBRON Since the word got out earlier this month, longtime customers of the Hebron Pharmacy have been lamenting the end of an era. But not Spike Houston. "I don't think I'd glamorize it quite like that," Houston said. "I prefer to think of it as a job well done." Houston, 69, who opened and operated Hebron's only pharmacy next to Ted's Supermarket in 1974, is calling it a career. The pharmacy will close Friday and reopen on Monday under the CVS banner. "It's been a great run for me for nearly 39 years," he said. Houston recalled this week how a phone call the day before Thanksgiving in 1973 from a local developer named Bob Tupper set his move to Hebron in motion. "He said "'I understand you're interested in opening a pharmacy,'" Houston said. That phone call lead to a series of meetings, including one with Tupper's bank, in which the banker was instructed to give Houston whatever he needed to get the business up and running. "What he did for me, I tried to do for others," Houston said. See original here: Hebron Pharmacy Closes … Continue reading →