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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.

High workloads for pharmacists increase the potential for medication errors

The risk of dispensing potentially harmful combinations of medications that could result in a drug interaction increased by 3 percent for each additional prescription filled per hour.

25 Apr 2007

Tactics used by drug reps to manipulate physicians revealed

In a unique collaborative paper in PLoS Medicine , Georgetown University Medical Center's Adriane Fugh-Berman and a former Eli Lilly drug rep reveal the tactics used by drug reps to manipulate physicians into selling drugs.

25 Apr 2007

Drug company sales visits influenced doctors

Almost half of sales visits by pharmaceutical company representatives advocating the use of the drug gabapentin led to doctors stating that they intended to increase their prescription of the drug or recommend it to colleagues, according to an analysis of a survey completed by the doctors shortly after the visits.

25 Apr 2007

Abbott submits NDA for combination Niaspan/Simvastatin tablet

Abbott has submitted a New Drug Application to the Food and Drug Administration for a fixed-dose combination (Simcor) of Niaspan (extended-release niacin) and simvastatin.

24 Apr 2007

Mixing certain allergy medications with other medicines can have hazardous effects on your health

Allergy season is here, and over-the-counter allergy medications are flying off the shelves.

24 Apr 2007

Researcher looks at health benefits of plant-based phytochemicals

Nutrition: It's not just the four basic food groups any more. Researcher Dr. Susanne Mertens-Talcott of Texas A&M University is looking into how plant-based phytochemicals, including antioxidants and herbal supplements, can be useful in the promotion of health and prevention of chronic diseases.

19 Apr 2007

AccessPharmacy helps meet demands of pharmacy education

In five years, nearly 300,000 practicing pharmacists will be needed nationwide to serve an aging population, a 30 percent increase compared with 2002, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

17 Apr 2007

AARP to track Senate vote on Medicare Rx bargaining bill

Today, AARP will be sending the following letter from CEO Bill Novelli to every member of the U.S. Senate alerting them that the association will be recording the upcoming Senate vote on a bill to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.

17 Apr 2007

Parata Systems acquires prescription pickup technology

Parata Systems, LLC today announced it acquired the assets of Amistar (BULLETIN BOARD: AMTA.PK) and Distributed Delivery Networks Corporation related to automated product machine (APM) technology, which enables prescription pickup via self-service kiosks.

11 Apr 2007

New target for diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer

An RNA-binding protein that is overproduced in ovarian cancer may present a new target for diagnosis or treatment of ovarian and other cancers, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

10 Apr 2007

PhRMA statement on the Medicare prescription drug program

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Senior Vice President Ken Johnson issued the following statement on the AARP's campaign to modify the Medicare prescription drug program.

5 Apr 2007

Less children and teens taking antidepressants

The number of children and teenagers prescribed antidepressant medications appears to have decreased following public warnings about suicidal behavior potentially associated with the drugs, according to a report published in the April issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Apr 2007

Environmental contamination could affect the evolution of wildlife through changes in mating behavior

Female rats avoid males whose great-grandfathers were exposed to a common fruit crop fungicide, preferring instead males whose ancestors were uncontaminated, researchers from The University of Texas at Austin have discovered.

2 Apr 2007

Common asthma inhaler powered by a new propellant is safe and effective

Conducted by two university professors and a director for the Food and Drug Administration, the review examines the consequences of switching to hydrofluoroalkane, which is replacing chlorofluorocarbon, or CFC, as a key ingredient in albuterol inhalers designed to relieve asthma. The FDA has ruled that U.S. sales of CFC albuterol inhalers be prohibited after 2008.

31 Mar 2007

Advocates call on Kroger Pharmacies to make emergency contraceptive Plan B available

Advocates are calling on Cincinnati-based Kroger stores to make the emergency contraceptive Plan B available to women at its pharmacies after a Georgia woman said a store did not sell her the drug, the AP/Akron Beacon Journal reports.

11 Mar 2007

Inhaled Celecoxib shows new promise for lung cancer treatment

In recent years, Cycloxygenase (COX)-2 has emerged as a therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of various types of cancers.

6 Mar 2007

CMS Administrator Norwalk says releasing data on Medicare prescription drug benefit discounts would undermine negotiations

CMS Administrator Leslie Norwalk in a letter to lawmakers on Thursday said that the agency will not disclose information on discounts obtained by pharmacy benefit managers for Medicare prescription drug plans, CQ HealthBeat reports.

5 Mar 2007

New drug delivery method incorporates drug molecules in fat

Devastating blood-borne fungal infections that can be lethal for HIV/AIDS, cancer, and organ transplant patients may be treated more successfully, thanks to a new drug delivery method developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

5 Mar 2007

Green tea and COX-2 inhibitors combine to slow growth of prostate cancer

Drinking a nice warm cup of green tea has long been touted for its healthful benefits, both real and anecdotal. But now researchers have found that a component of green tea, combined with low doses of a COX-2 inhibitor, could slow the spread of human prostate cancer.

1 Mar 2007

U.S. should establish initiative to mobilize health workers to countries affected by HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS is "essentially the black death of the 21st century, killing on a massive scale and threatening to cripple economies and topple governments," Fitzhugh Mullan of George Washington University's Department of Health Policy writes in a commentary in the Feb. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

21 Feb 2007