Category: Pharmacists

MEwens
Retail pharmacies are usually thrilled when a popular brand-name drug rolls off patent. For the 180 days when a single manufacturer produces a generic pill and its wholesale price remains strong, drug stores reap a nice profit.
But Pfizer’s cholesterol-lowering blockbuster Lipitor is a different story.
On the eve of tomorrow’s launch of a generic […]

MEwens
Two new surveys give a snapshot of how bad the drug-shortage problem has become.
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices has called the recent rash of shortages “unprecedented.” Today, the American Hospital Association and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reported what their members are saying. (The WSJ wrote about this issue earlier this year.)
The […]

MEwens
Cutting a Provision: The House voted to repeal the unpopular so-called 1099 provision of the health-care overhaul law, which requires small businesses to report to the IRS whenever they do at least $600 worth of business with a single vendor, the WSJ reports. The Senate previously voted to get rid of the provision, […]

MEwens
Avastin Announcement: Roche says its drug Avastin, which the FDA has recommended stripping of its breast-cancer indication, has been backed for that purpose in Europe, the WSJ reports. The drug is used in combination with chemotherapy in breast-cancer patients, but the FDA has said its safety and efficacy aren’t sufficient to warrant its […]

MEwens
The recommendations also suggest that if it’s okay with the patient, labels should include the purpose of the drug in plain language.
Read more this great post here

Amy Dockser Marcus
Some 64% of survey respondents reported a risk of adverse patient outcomes associated with a drug shortage; one in three said their facility had a shortage-related “near miss.”
Read more this great post here

MEwens
The ISMP sees no relief in sight for the problem of shortages, which can be caused by a variety of factors.
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MEwens
Also: the AMA rates commercial insurers; a new theory of prescribing statins; a rare death of a living organ donor.
Read more this great post here

MEwens
Also: health-overhaul initiatives in November; CVS and Walgreen duke it out over PBM; lack of evidence on atrial fibrillation treatments.
Read more this great post here

MEwens
Thirty-six states permit pharmacists to sub in a generic for a name-brand drug, unless they’re told otherwise by the prescribing doctor.
Read more this great post here