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Community pharmacy, also known as retail pharmacy, is the most common type of pharmacy that allows the public access to their medications and advice about their health. Traditionally known as a chemist, it is the healthcare facility that is responsible for the provision of pharmaceutical service to a specific community group or region.

Pennsylvania State agency seeks to gain control of Medicaid managed care plans' prescription drug benefits

The administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) has proposed shifting control of the prescription drug component of Medicaid managed care plans to the state Department of Public Welfare, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

22 May 2008

Louisiana Gov. Jindal's administration asks State Senate to restore millions in health care budget cuts

The administration of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) on Monday called on state senators to restore millions of dollars in health care program cuts that were approved last week by the House, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports. The House approved a $30 billion state budget for fiscal year 2009 that includes $240 million less than Jindal's proposed budget.

22 May 2008

St. Louis Post-Dispatch examines small pharmacies' efforts to provide specialized services to people living with HIV/AIDS

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday examined the efforts of some small pharmacies to provide specialized services to people living with HIV/AIDS. According to the Post-Dispatch, HIV/AIDS care is "resisting" the pharmaceutical industry's overall trend toward distributing medication through mail-order pharmacies rather than through traditional retail.

22 May 2008

Blood-free monitoring as good as blood tests in predicting the course of AIDS

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have shown that monitoring treatment adherence to AIDS therapy is a simple blood-free way to monitor risk of disease progression. The international study was published in the May issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.

20 May 2008

Monitoring whether patients take medicines can help anticipate HIV treatment failure in Africa

Information on how reliably people take their anti-HIV medicines can help identify those whose treatment will succeed or fail. Monitoring this information, which can be obtained directly from pharmacy records, works at least as well as performing blood tests that track the medicine's effect on the immune system, according to research published in PLoS Medicine by Gregory Bisson, Jean Nachega and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the University of Cape Town.

20 May 2008

National Community Pharmacists Association to launch ad campaign to lobby lawmakers for policy changes

The National Community Pharmacists Association this week plans to launch a new advertising campaign that asks lawmakers to address two policies that the group maintains has or will result in closures of community pharmacies, CongressDaily reports. As part of the launch of the campaign, about 500 community pharmacists and independent pharmacy owners will visit Washington, D.C.

19 May 2008

Minocycline may find new life as a stroke treatment

An old intravenous antibiotic may have new life as a stroke treatment, researchers say. Minocycline appears to reduce stroke damage in multiple ways - inhibiting white blood cells and enzymes that, at least acutely, can destroy brain tissue and blood vessels, respectively, says Dr. David Hess, chair of the Department of Neurology in the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine.

19 May 2008

Average 2008 employee out-of-pocket costs for family health care to increase 10.5%, according to Milliman Index

The cost of health care for the average U.S. family with employer-sponsored health coverage will increase 7.6% this year, due in part to rising prescription drug prices, according to a Milliman study released on Wednesday, Dow Jones reports.

19 May 2008

Ashwell receptor plays key role in reducing coagulation abnormalities during infection and sepsis

In research that solves the longest-standing mystery in glycobiology - a field that studies complex sugar chains called glycans - researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a molecule in the liver of all animals, called the Ashwell receptor, is critical in helping the body fight off the abnormal and lethal blood clotting caused by bacterial infection.

19 May 2008

Chronic disease management: Does it improve health and save money?

A study published in the May/June issue of Health Affairs reports on the first randomized trial providing a scientifically valid look at what one might expect from chronic disease management programs that serve low-income individuals. The study result provides good news for state Medicaid leaders struggling to meet the needs of individuals with chronic conditions and also suggests that some disease management efforts, even among relatively low-risk patients, may be an effective strategy.

13 May 2008

NCPA statement on "sense of congress" resolution opposing FDA restrictions on Estriol use

Yesterday H. Con. Res. 342 was introduced by Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) opposing the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to restrict Estriol (a form of Estrogen), a compounded hormone preparation used by women to alleviate the symptoms of menopause.

7 May 2008

Asthma attacks early in pregnancy put baby at greater risk of birth defects, new research suggests

Uncontrolled asthma during the first trimester of pregnancy greatly increases the risk of birth defects in babies, according to new research to be published in the June issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

5 May 2008

The "pain gap" in American society

A novel study that attempts to paint the most accurate and detailed description yet of how Americans experience pain has found that a significant portion of the population -- 28 percent -- are in pain at any given moment and those with less education and lower income spend more of their time in pain. Those in pain are less likely to work or socialize with others and are more inclined to watch television than the pain-free.

1 May 2008

Breakthrough compound could lead to new class of antihypertensive drugs

University of Florida researchers have identified a drug compound that dramatically lowers blood pressure, improves heart function and - in a remarkable finding - prevents damage to the heart and kidneys in rats with persistent hypertension

1 May 2008

U-M receives grant to provide free and open, online health professions educational materials

The University of Michigan has launched an ambitious pilot project to make comprehensive pre-clinical health curricula available worldwide via the Internet.

1 May 2008

Study describes mechanism linking acohol with risk of breast cancer

The known association of alcohol consumption with an increased risk of breast cancer has been linked by researchers at the University at Buffalo to a process that causes genes that promote normal cell growth to produce proteins that precipitate unregulated cell growth, an action known as hypermethylation

30 Apr 2008

NACDS seeks passage of E-prescribing bill to finance Medicaid reimbursement rule change

National Association of Chain Drug Stores CEO Steven Anderson on Tuesday in a letter asked lawmakers to pass a bill (HR 4296) that would require physicians who participate in Medicare to adopt e-prescribing by 2011 to finance legislation (S 1951, HR 3700) that would revise a new rule related to Medicaid reimbursements to pharmacies, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 4/23).

23 Apr 2008

Pharmacy News and Research

Further Reading

Pennsylvania State agency seeks to gain control of Medicaid managed care plans' prescription drug benefits

Louisiana Gov. Jindal's administration asks State Senate to restore millions in health care budget cuts

St. Louis Post-Dispatch examines small pharmacies' efforts to provide specialized services to people living with HIV/AIDS

Blood-free monitoring as good as blood tests in predicting the course of AIDS

Monitoring whether patients take medicines can help anticipate HIV treatment failure in Africa

National Community Pharmacists Association to launch ad campaign to lobby lawmakers for policy changes

Minocycline may find new life as a stroke treatment

Average 2008 employee out-of-pocket costs for family health care to increase 10.5%, according to Milliman Index

Ashwell receptor plays key role in reducing coagulation abnormalities during infection and sepsis

Chronic disease management: Does it improve health and save money?

NCPA statement on "sense of congress" resolution opposing FDA restrictions on Estriol use

Asthma attacks early in pregnancy put baby at greater risk of birth defects, new research suggests

The "pain gap" in American society

Breakthrough compound could lead to new class of antihypertensive drugs

U-M receives grant to provide free and open, online health professions educational materials

Study describes mechanism linking acohol with risk of breast cancer

NACDS seeks passage of E-prescribing bill to finance Medicaid reimbursement rule change

New York Times examines increasing prices of specialty drugs distributed exclusively by pharmacy benefit managers

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association response to New York Times article on biotech medicine costs

New drug for melanoma riluzole shows promise

Pittcon Highlights: Pharmaceutical & Biologic eBook

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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