Category Archives: Prescriptions

Franklin County, Tenn., is just a few readings away from rules making pseudoephedrine-based cold medicines available only by prescription. Cowan, Decherd and Estill Springs are the remaining municipalities in the county set to pass new rules on pseudoephedrine-based cold medicines as law enforcement takes a new step in the battle against methamphetamine. Pseudoephedrine is the primary ingredient in meth production. "The only way it's going to be successful is if the entire region does this," Winchester police Chief Dennis Young said. The new, countywide rules will be a first among Tennessee counties. Young said officials from Franklin County are meeting with neighboring counties, Grundy County being the next stop over the next few days. Young said pharmacy statistics show meth makers have been heading for Tennessee in droves to get their ingredients. In the past year, about 780,000 people bought pseudoephedrine in Tennessee. Pharmacy sales records show tens of thousands of people come from Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi to get the precursor chemical in Tennessee. "Tennessee this year is reclaiming No. 1 in the nation in the production of meth," Young said. Missouri was the top-ranking state, but more than 70 cities in Southern Missouri implemented regulations similar to those … Continue reading →

Finally, and contrary to common perceptions, antidepressants probably work better than psychological therapies. The situation, in short, is not as alarming as it might appear which is reassuring for all concerned. ................. There is yet more to the phenomenon of the apparently fit and healthy being diagnosed with diabetes than as mentioned in this column last week the recent switch from the commonsensical criterion of a raised blood-sugar level to the obscure (if supposedly more sensitive) measurement of glycated haemoglobin. This week, Dr Aleesa Carter and colleagues at Toronto General Hospital, in a major study of almost half a million patients, confirm that the current epidemic of diabetes is also, at least in part, medically induced (or iatrogenic), caused by the mass prescription of cholesterol-lowering statins. This is almost certainly a biological problem attributed to their adverse effects on the insulin-secreting cells of the pancreas with the risk of diabetes rising with the dose and potency of the type of statin prescribed. The absolute risk remains small, but, with seven million people currently taking statins in Britain, adds up to a staggering 27,450 additional cases of diabetes over a four-year period. The phenomenal scale of this unintended adverse effect (predictably, … Continue reading →

CLERMONT -- Lake County residents are invited to dispose of their unwanted prescription drugs and household hazardous waste at a collection event next week. The event is set for Thursday, June 20 from 9 a.m. to noon in the Lowes parking lot, located at 1501 Sandy Grove Ave. Lake Countys Household Hazardous Waste Mobile Unit will be on hand to collect waste such as lawn and gardening materials, cleaning solutions, motor oil and used gas, light bulbs, photo and swimming pool chemicals, batteries, paint and related products, small propane tanks and fluorescent lamps. A drive-thru system will allow residents to drop off their items without leaving their vehicle. Materials like infectious waste, solvents, waste containing a high content of heavy metals (such as cadmium and mercury), chemical laboratory waste and radioactive waste are not permitted. For more information on this or future events, call the Lake County Solid Waste Division at (352) 343-3776. Read more from the original source: Get rid of your unwanted prescriptions, hazardous waste … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON, DC Its a victory for womens rights advocates. And a smack-down for social conservatives. The department of justice has decided to drop its appeal against U.S. District Judge Edward Kormans ruling allowing the emergency contraceptive Plan B to be sold over the counter in drug stores without prescription or age-limitations. But that doesnt mean women will be able to buy the drug immediately. After a ruling like this comes down, just like before when they changed the age of Plan B, it takes just as long to get to the store as long as it takes the manufacturer to make the new box with the new labeling, Houston Pharmacist Craig Novak explains. Once we get the new box with the new labeling, thats when the law will actually go into effect where we can sell it at certain ages. The FDA has requested that the drugs manufacturer, Teva Womens Health, submit a new application complete with new labeling information and once approved, the company can begin printing those new labels and distributing the drugs to stores, until then however, pharmacists arent allowed to sell the old packages. Even when they changed it to seventeen, Novak says, we still couldnt … Continue reading →

LOPATCONG TWP., N.J. - Two N.J. women are facing charges after they allegedly tried to forge a Xanax prescription. Lopatcong Twp. police were called to the Phillipsburg Pharmacy at 96 Baltimore St. in Phillipsburg for a report of two women who tried to fill a fraudulent prescription around midnight Saturday. The women were identified as 36-year-old Marteka Fleming of S. 10th Street, and 30-year-old Qyneesha Myers of Washington St., both of Newark, N.J. Both were located later, sitting in a vehicle in front of the Rite Aid pharmacy at 755 Memorial Pkwy., where they were taken into custody. An investigation revealed that Fleming forged the prescription and gave it to Myers to fill at the Phillipsburg Pharmacy, where they were turned away, according to police. They drove to Rite Aid where township police located them. Both women were charged with forgery. Continued here: Marteka Fleming, Qyneesha Myers try to forge prescriptions, police say … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Biotechnology Industry Organization and the Delaware BioScience Association (Delaware Bio) commend the Delaware State Senate for introducing legislation designed to address the regulatory issues related to the interchangeability of biological medicines. The policies outlined in Senate Bill 118 align with BIOs principles on biologic substitution, therefore BIO support passage of this bill. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees approval of biologic medicines, policies governing whether one product may be substituted in place of a doctor's prescription and whether a pharmacist must notify a consumer is covered by state law. Senate Bill 118 seeks to properly preserve the physician-patient relationship, protect patient access to accurate prescription information, maintain incentives for innovation and promote a competitive market for biologic therapies. Biosimilars are not generics. Even slight changes to a biologic drug can change its properties entirely. Unlike conventional generic medicines, biosimilars are not the same as the drugs they seek to substitute. In fact, two biologics made using different cell lines and differing manufacturing processes will rarely, if ever, be exactly the same, hence the name biosimilar. Those suggesting biosimilars and generics are the same are wrong. Patients and physicians managing chronic conditions are generally aware … Continue reading →

Salisbury, North Carolina SALISBURY Do you wish you could save money on prescription drug costs? The local Social Security office and the Rowan County SHIIP program, based at the Rufty-Holmes Senior Center, may be able to help. The Seniors Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) is a division of the N.C. Department of Insurance. Specially trained volunteer counselors spend about one hour per client, answering Medicare questions and enrolling clients in prescription drug or supplement plans. SHIIP counselors can often save a substantial amount of money for consumers by helping newly eligible people switch to more economical prescription drug coverage during the Annual Enrollment Period. There is no cost for SHIIP counseling, although the program accepts donations to help with expenses. A Medicare beneficiary may be eligible for the federal Extra Help low-income subsidy program through Social Security, if the consumer has limited income and resources. The Extra Help program can pay for all or part of the monthly premiums, annual deductibles, and providing low prescription copayments under a Medicare prescription drug plan. To qualify for Extra Help, the annual income must be limited to $16,755 for an individual or $22,695 for a married couple living together. Total resources must be … Continue reading →

The weekend was quite a busy one for the Director of the African Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Antoinette Sayeh, who organized a press conference and held high level talks with Cameroons Prime Minister, Philemon Yang on how ageing president Biyas country can better manage her natural resources in order to boost growth and the transformation of the agricultural sector of Sub-Saharan African countries. At the start of the weekends press conference at the Yaounde Hilton Hotel, the IMF senior official said the near-term outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa remains broadly positive with growth projected to accelerate modestly despite a difficult global world economic situation. She said that in 2012 economic growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa was 5.1 per cent, growth rate in 2013 projected at 5.4 per cent and 5.7 per cent in 2014. The growth is conditioned on the implementation of sound macroeconomic policies. Following a recent report, inflation may further decline below six per cent by the end of 2014, reflecting the expectation of moderating non-oil commodity prices and maintenance of appropriate monetary policy. Antoinette Monsio Balaji Sayeh, the Liberian Economist, says for Cameroon to become an emerging country by 2035, the country requires significant strengthening … Continue reading →

One thing that experts know, andthat non-experts do not, is that they know less than non-experts think they do. This much was evident atthe just-completed Spring Meetings ofthe International Monetary Fund andthe World Bank Group. They were three intense days oftalks that brought together finance ministers, central bankers andother policymakers. Our economic expertise is limited infundamental ways. Consider monetary andfiscal policies. Despite decades ofcareful data collection andmathematical andstatistical research, onmany large questions we have little more than rules ofthumb. Forexample, we know that we should lower interest rates andinject liquidity tofight stagnation andthat we should raise policy rates andbanks' cash-reserve ratios tostifle inflation. Sometimes we rely onour judgment incombining interest rate action with open-market operations. But thefact remains that our understanding ofthese policies' mechanics is rudimentary. These rules ofthumb work as aresult ofevolution. Over time, thewrong moves are penalized, andtheir users either learn bywatching others or disappear. We get our monetary andfiscal policies right thesame way that birds build their nests right. As with all behaviors shaped byevolution, when theenvironment changes, there is arisk that existing adaptations become dysfunctional. This has been thefate ofsome ofour standard macroeconomic policies. Theformation ofthe eurozone anda half-century ofrelentless globalization have altered theglobal economic landscape, … Continue reading →

Ontarios wealthiest senior citizens could be paying hundreds of dollars more out of pocket for prescription drugs every year under the Liberal governments proposed budget. Most seniors across the province currently have a co-pay of $6.11 per prescription with a $100 yearly deductible. The co-pay would remain stable under the plan, which was released Thursday, but the deductible could increase considerably for individual seniors with incomes over $100,000, or family incomes of more than $160,000. Seniors in those categories would see their deductible rise by an amount equivalent to 3 per cent of their income over the thresholds, according to government officials who briefed reporters on the budget. For example, the deductible for a single senior citizen with an income of $120,000 would jump to $700, an increase of $600, or 3 per cent of $20,000. How much revenue the initiative would generate for the cash-strapped province has yet to be calculated, the officials said, but it is anticipated that the increase would affect 5 per cent of the senior population. The initiative is slated to take effect in August of 2014. Health Minister Deb Matthews cast the increase as essential to sustaining universal health care and said the majority … Continue reading →