Category Archives: Pharmacy

Algae The New Pharmacy Factory Pond scum is earning more respect thanks to a new bio-tech company in Columbus. Biosortia Pharmaceuticals is in the business of "obtaining the unobtainable a... By: Andrew Campbell … Continue reading →

NECC insider: "We got sloppy" For the first time, an insider at New England Compounding - the drug company linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak - is providing insight on how things went... By: CBSNewsOnline … Continue reading →

Late night pharmacy to open in doctors surgery 12:04pm Monday 11th March 2013 in News A NEW pharmacy based in a doctors' surgery is set to offer extended hours to residents in Darlington. The new late night pharmacy at Denmark Street Surgery on Denmark Street, Darlington, is a joint venture between the GPs at Denmark Street Surgery and Community Pharmacies (UK) Ltd and will open seven days a week. The pharmacy has been developed within the Denmark Street Surgery, creating ten new jobs, to provide a healthcare resource to the local community. In addition to the usual NHS and private prescription dispensing, there is a free prescription collection and delivery service, emergency contraception, and treatment for minor illnesses on offer. Richard Binns, pharmacy manager at Denmark Street Pharmacy,said: The team and I are really excited about the opening of our new pharmacy, and we are looking forward to providing a first class service to all. The late night pharmacy will officially be opened on Monday, March 18. Read more: Late night pharmacy to open in doctors surgery … Continue reading →

By Ben Sutherly The Columbus Dispatch Sunday March 10, 2013 6:52 AM Research fraud, faculty infighting and federal lawsuits have plagued Ohio State Universitys pharmacy college in recent years. One prominent researcher, who is retiring after disputes with the colleges leadership, even called the working environment there dishonorable. Our college is just so messed up, said the pharmacy professor, Jessie Lai-Sim Au. Since 2007, two pharmacy college professors have sued Ohio State in federal court, alleging retaliation and discrimination, and at least four professors and a graduate student have been accused of research misconduct or misuse of grant funds. This is a lot to be going on in a single college, said Scott Jaschik, editor of the website Inside Higher Ed and a former editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education. He noted that hes unfamiliar with the details of the pharmacy colleges cases. Research misconduct is very serious, and universities do not want to be known as places with multiple research misconduct cases period. In an interview with The Dispatch, the colleges dean, Robert Brueggemeier, said the university is placing a greater emphasis on research ethics, including a class on the topic that will be required of students and … Continue reading →

Former employees of a Framingham compounding pharmacy at the center of a national meningitis outbreak are claiming the New England Compounding Center brazenly broke the rules. Darrel Clark is one of more than 700 people nationwide sickened after receiving a contaminated steroid injection manufactured by NECC. "I feel they're criminals. It's like they gave out poison knowing it was poison but didn't care because they were making money, he said. Forty-eight people have died, and Clarks family worried the 50-year-old father would be one of them. For the first time in the six months since the fungal meningitis outbreak, those who worked inside the compounding pharmacy are speaking out. Joe Connolly, a former technician, told 60 Minutes, The underlying factor is that the company got greedy and over extended. And we got sloppy and something happened. Connolly says mold was found in the clean room a dozen times during a span of three years. NECC was supposed to manufacture drugs for individual patients, but Connolly says a month before the first death he warned his supervisor, Something's going to happen, something's going to get missed and we're going to get shut down. We weren't compounding any more. We were manufacturing. … Continue reading →

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. WFTV's Tim Barber has uncovered new information showing a Winter Park pharmacy lost track of nearly 100,000 oxycodone pills. Channel 9 was at the Medicine Shoppe on Howell Branch Road in October of 2011 when the Drug of Enforcement Agency raided it. When federal agents raided the pharmacy two years ago, they said a technician and three other men stole 15,000 oxycodone pills. But Channel 9 uncovered new state documents which show more than 96,000 painkillers disappeared from the pharmacy. Mehrdad Hariri managed the pharmacy. Although prosecutors told Barber that Hariri did not do anything illegal, Department of Health has put him on two years' probation and fined him $5,000 for failing to ensure the security of the prescription department. On Friday, a pharmacy employee told Barber that Hariri no longer works at the pharmacy. When Barber called the pharmacy a short time later he was told that Hariri was busy and to call back later. The Department of Health also lists the pharmacy as his address of record. At his Maitland home, Hariri's wife told Barber that her husband is an honest, hard-working man who made a mistake by trusting his pharmacy tech to do the … Continue reading →

SAN FRANCISCO, March 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP), a community health plan serving over 78,000 San Francisco residents, announced today its partnership with PerformRx to manage its pharmacy benefits. In an ongoing effort to improve member pharmacy services with a keen eye on fiscal responsibility, San Francisco Health Plan chose PerformRx for its focus on improving patient outcomes and financial performance. PerformRx is a clinician-led pharmacy benefit manager providing prescription drug claim processing, pharmacy network management and clinical support for Medicare, Medi-Cal and commercial plans. "We are dedicated to delivering high quality healthcare for the people of San Francisco. It has been an enduring core value of San Francisco Health Plan," said John F. Grgurina, Jr., CEO of San Francisco Health Plan. "We strive to deliver excellent pharmacy services to our members. With this selection, we are prepared for the dynamic changes coming to healthcare." "We are excited to have chosen PerformRx as our pharmacy benefit manager, knowing that they are going to assisting us in our core values -- ensuring excellent service, quality and affordability for our members, our providers and our city," said Dr. Kelly Pfeifer, Chief Medical Officer of San Francisco Health Plan. Working … Continue reading →

AUSTIN, Texas, March 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Major Texas pharmacy groups today announced their support for vital legislation filed by Senator Larry Taylor (R-Friendswood), Representative Jodie Laubenberg (R-Parker) and Representative Gene Wu (D-Houston) Senate Bill 1013, House Bill 2938 and House Bill 2222 that would increase access to critical and cost-effective immunizations for Texas children by expanding immunization authority for Texas pharmacists. When it comes to immunization rates, Texas ranks below the national average. Expanding immunization authority for pharmacists would encourage more childhood immunizations given the cost-effective and convenient nature of pharmacy-administered immunizations. "Pharmacists are highly qualified and trusted health care providers who are in the best position to help meet the growing immunization demand and reduce the number of vaccine-preventable diseases for thousands of Texas children," said Joe DaSilva, chief executive officer of Texas Pharmacy Association. "Unfortunately, there are still many immunizations that Texans do not have easy access to, including the highly contagious Pertussis (whooping cough). Expanding immunization authority for Texas pharmacists will increase access to vital immunizations for children across our state, helping to prevent diseases and reduce health care costs in the long run." State law currently allows pharmacists to administer the flu vaccine to anyone over … Continue reading →

(CBS News) A pharmacy called New England Compounding Center is under criminal investigation. Last fall, it shipped 17,000 vials of a contaminated steroid to 23 states. Hundreds of people are still fighting horrific infections caused by the drug, and patients continue to die -- the most recent just 10 days ago. Julie Otto We've never heard from anyone inside New England Compounding until now. A "60 Minutes" investigation has discovered how a pharmacy -- not supervised by the FDA -- came to ship toxic drugs across the country to unsuspecting patients. "I've been in the hospital seven times, total of 75 days," says Julie Otto, one of the injured patients we met at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital outside Detroit. "I've missed Thanksgiving and Christmas and my son's birthday." These patients were injected with the steroid to relieve chronic pain. Now, a fungus is inside them. The drug was produced by New England Compounding, known as NECC, outside Boston. Joe Connolly, a lab technician there, is the first to speak out about what happened. This is the fungus inside patients who were injected with tainted steroids made by NECC. This sample was grown from the spinal fluid of a patient. "The … Continue reading →

AVON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Magellan Pharmacy Solutions, a division of Magellan Health Services (MGLN), announced a new, comprehensive clinical quality management program, Whole Health RxSM, which works to address the quality of drug management across the fragmented delivery systems that deal with behavioral health and pharmacy benefits. Whole Health Rx uses medical diagnosis, behavioral and pharmacy claims, and lab data to identify patients taking behavioral health medications who also have common co-morbid conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and other chronic diseases. Magellan then works with behavioral health providers, primary care physicians and nurse practitioners to identify and resolve inappropriate prescribing, gaps in care and potential drug interactions to improve member safety and reduce cost. Through our advanced proprietary clinical algorithms, best practice guidelines, and active partnership with providers, Whole Health Rx improves clinical outcomes and reduces non-compliant prescriber behavior. Whole Health Rx gives providers feedback and evidence-based information to allow them to better manage patients with behavioral health conditions who often have common co-morbid physical health conditions that affect cardiovascular, endocrine and respiratory systems. It targets vulnerable pediatric and geriatric populations as well as patients with potential substance abuse issues. Approximately 86 percent of adults with a behavioral … Continue reading →