Pharmacy News and Research

RSS

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.

CMS issues final rule for Medicaid prescription drug reimbursements

CMS on Friday released a final rule that will change the Medicaid prescription drug reimbursement formula for pharmacies from being based on the average wholesale price to being based on the average manufacturer price, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 7/10).

11 Jul 2007

Study targets pharmacists to help diabetes sufferers

A new Wesley Research Institute project aims to make it much easier for people to manager their Type 2 Diabetes by using community pharmacists.

9 Jul 2007

Increase in prescription drug cost sharing associated with lower rates of drug treatment, adherence

A review of previous studies indicates that an increase in prescription drug cost sharing is associated with a decrease in drug spending and use of pharmacies; and for some chronic conditions, higher cost sharing is associated with greater use of expensive medical services, according to an article in the July 4 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

4 Jul 2007

New approach for tackling allergies

Allergies, like the common cold and asthma, have basically defied the best efforts of modern medicine to cure them.

28 Jun 2007

Electronics to the rescue of sloppy doctors

Doctors are famous for sloppy scribbling - and handwritten prescriptions lead to thousands of medication errors each year.

28 Jun 2007

Echinacea helps protect against colds

According to new research Echinacea, a herbal remedy traditionally used to help fight infections does work and can in fact reduce the chances of catching a cold by more than half.

25 Jun 2007

New treatment slows the growth of colon and liver cancers

Leire Garcia Navarro, a researcher at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Navarra, has developed a new treatment which slows the growth of colon and liver cancers.

23 Jun 2007

Vaccine for human cytomegalovirus

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have patented a strategy for developing a human vaccine to prevent against Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection and disease.

23 Jun 2007

Medical error is the fifth-leading cause of death in the U.S.

Millennium Research Group (MRG) has conducted a detailed and thorough analysis of the acute care clinical information systems (CIS) market and finds that a major driver in the US is the demand for improvement in patient safety.

23 Jun 2007

Novel method of drug delivery to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death for men in the U.S. Present treatments for metastatic prostate cancer (cancer cells that spread to other parts of the body) include hormonal therapy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which frequently have serious side effects.

23 Jun 2007

New treatment slows the growth of colon and liver cancers

A. Navarro, a researcher at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Navarra, has developed a new treatment which slows the growth of colon and liver cancers.

23 Jun 2007

Key mechanism identified by which the body regulates iron metabolism

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have determined a key mechanism by which the body regulates iron metabolism, a discovery that may provide new approaches for the treatment of anemia.

23 Jun 2007

Cancer stem cells similar to normal stem cells thwart anti-cancer agents

Current cancer therapies often succeed at initially eliminating the bulk of the disease, including all rapidly proliferating cells, but are eventually thwarted because they cannot eliminate a small reservoir of multiple-drug-resistant tumor cells, called cancer stem cells, which ultimately become the source of disease recurrence and eventual metastasis.

19 Jun 2007

Gaps in diabetes care identified

A symposium, sponsored by the American Journal of Nursing (AJN) in collaboration with the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Diabetes Educators, Joslin Diabetes Center and the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing identified barriers to, and strategies for, more effective diabetes self management and reaffirmed the nurse's critical role to facilitate better patient self care.

17 Jun 2007

Don't flush old or unused medications

Your spring cleaning is done. Or is it? Did you clean out your medicine cabinet? Before you flush old or unused medication, precautions need to be taken.

16 Jun 2007

New model shows how simple chemical and physical processes may have laid the foundation for life

Before life emerged on earth, either a primitive kind of metabolism or an RNA-like duplicating machinery must have set the stage, so experts believe.

15 Jun 2007

Structure of protein altered in autism revealed

As a result of mapping the structure of the protein complex implicated in autism spectrum disorders, a research team led by scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has discovered how particular genetic mutations affect this complex and contribute to the developmental abnormalities found in children with autism.

15 Jun 2007

Splitting high-dose pills and swallowing half could save cost

Slicing certain pills in half could slice a hefty amount off of America's prescription drug costs. While only some types of pills can be split safely, the practice could be used by millions of Americans – including many of those who take popular cholesterol-lowering drugs.

15 Jun 2007

Call for greater research into paediatric drugs for epilepsy

Researchers have called for urgent studies into the long-term safety of newer antiepileptic drugs after discovering that the number given to children has increased significantly over recent years, reports the June issue of British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

14 Jun 2007

Congress urged to cover home infusion therapy for Medicare beneficiaries

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is urging Congress to support the Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2007 (H.R. 2567), bipartisan legislation introduced yesterday by Reps.

8 Jun 2007