Category Archives: Pharmacy

Amber D. Tomer of Benton has graduated from St. Louis College of Pharmacy. The commencement ceremony was held at Powell Hall. Tomer was one of 180 students to receive a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree. Tomer is the daughter of Frank and Pam Tomer and is a 2006 graduate of Benton Consolidated High School. Having completed six years of pharmacy education, Tomer now joins more than 200,000 professional pharmacists in the United States. As a member of the class of 2012, Tomer and fellow classmates will go on to educate patients in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, long-term care centers, neighborhood clinics, and community pharmacies. During commencement, Tomer and all the graduates were challenged by President John A. Pieper to take leadership positions not only in pharmacy, but in the wider community. You are the practitioners that can affect change, the ones that help people be healthier. More than any other, you are the most accessible health care provider in communities and are best situated to make our nation a healthier place to live, Pieper said, I have every confidence that you will take up this challenge and succeed beyond your wildest dreams. Just before receiving their diplomas … Continue reading →

'All I wanted to do was crawl into a hole' GEORGINA STYLIANOU DEAN KOZANIC/Fairfax NZ NO TIME TO GRIEVE: Warwick Kerr had to cope with the death of a son, the destruction of one pharmacy and the revival of another. A Christchurch pharmacy owner had to put aside his grief for his dead son to avoid bankruptcy. Warwick Kerr owns pharmacies in Waltham and St Martins, and four days before he was to take over the Parklands Unichem Pharmacy, his 13-year-old son, Joel, died in a swimming pool accident. Three weeks later, the February 2011 earthquake hit, and the family's main source of income, the St Martins Pharmacy, was destroyed. This week, Kerr won best community pharmacy in the national pharmacy awards for his Parklands business. "It's a great privilege, but when you lose a child, nothing really matters any more," he said. Kerr, wife Sarah and his four other children had lived "through hell" in the past 18 months. On January 27 last year, Kerr found Joel unconscious in the family's pool and his other children "watched as I tried to make him keep living". Read the original: Pharmacist rewarded after hellish year … Continue reading →

FLINT, Mich, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/--Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy, the nation's largest, privately owned specialty pharmacy, announced today that pharmacy executive, Gary W. Kadlec, has joined the company and will be serving as President. Gary will report to Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy's CEO, Philip Hagerman. "Gary is an experienced industry leader with a true passion for patient care and for the pharmacy profession," said Hagerman. "His unique experience as both a business entrepreneur and seasoned Pharmacy executive will be a tremendous asset as we work together to continue Diplomat's industry-leading growth." As President, Kadlec will support and drive the Sales, Clinical, Managed Care, New Business and Operations teams at Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy. "It is obvious to me that Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy's commitment to the proper care of each and every patient is a key factor in the success of the company," said Kadlec. "My father and grandfather, both pharmacists, were also committed to their patients and I've modeled my entire career after both of them. I am excited to be joining such a fine company and staff that share the same vision of the role of pharmacy in patient care as we grow Diplomat together." Prior to joining Diplomat, Kadlec was the … Continue reading →

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- U.S. News & World Report, the nations leading publisher of quality rankings, and Pharmacy Times, the pharmacy industrys leading publication, have announced a new collaboration that will identify the top pharmacist-recommended over-the-counter (OTC) products for consumers. For the past 16 years, Pharmacy Times has researched and compiled pharmacists insights and preferences in its annual companion publication, titled OTC Guide. Prior to the U.S. News & World Report alliance, this yearly supplement to Pharmacy Times had been a resource provided solely to professionals in the health care industry. Thanks to this new collaboration, however, consumers nationwide soon will have insight into pharmacists go-to brands in more than 150 categories, from head (migraine, allergy relief and cough/cold) to toe (joint pain and foot cream). In gathering OTC data, Pharmacy Times conducted a proprietary annual survey that reaches a significant portion of the publications 170,000 pharmacist readers to collect feedback about 14 distinct therapeutic health areas comprising 162 product categories. This research results in the evaluation and ranking of more than 1,000 OTC products. One of U.S. News signature franchises is its Best" series of guides in key consumer decision areas such as colleges, graduate schools, mutual funds, cars, travel … Continue reading →

Credit: CVS Surveillance Pictures Columbus police detectives are looking for help identifying the man who they said robbed a pharmacy early Sunday morning. According to Columbus police, a man entered the CVS Pharmacy located at 7470 Sawmill Rd. in Columbus at about 2:25 a.m. The man approached the pharmacy counter and implied a weapon, police said. The man then displayed a demand note asking for all of the Oxycodone in the store, according to police. The pharmacist complied and, police said, he gave an unspecified amount of pills to the suspect. The suspect left the scene on foot. Police described the suspect as a white male in his early to mid-20s. He stands between 6 feet 1 inch and 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs between 180 and 200 pounds. He had a beard and was wearing a white zip-up hooded sweatshirt and a green hat. Anyone with information about this suspect is asked to call Columbus police at 614-645-4665 or leave an anymous top with Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. For additional information, stay with NBC4 and refresh nbc4i.com. To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail stories@nbc4i.com. See original here: Pharmacy Robbed By Suspect Demanding … Continue reading →

Q: I have had blood clots in my lungs, and I take Coumadin to prevent recurrences. When I drank 12 ounces of cranberry-grape juice, it sent my INR level to 16.4, compared with the previous day's level of 6.5. Both levels are too high, but 16 could have killed me! Is there any data on this interaction? A: Warfarin (Coumadin) is an anticoagulant that prevents blood clots. Patients on this drug walk a tightrope because it interacts with so many foods and other drugs. Too little medicine could lead to blood clots, while too much could cause a fatal hemorrhage. A potential cranberry juice-warfarin interaction is highly controversial. Well-conducted studies have not revealed a problem (British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, July 2010). But doctors have reported several cases of INR elevation in people consuming cranberry juice or sauce (Consultant Pharmacist, January 2012). INR is a measure of anticoagulation. When it exceeds 5, your risk of bleeding rises. An INR of 16 might indeed be lethal. Q: Despite following a low-salt diet and exercising, my blood pressure crept up. When my systolic number hit 160, my doctor prescribed medicine. First he gave me hydrochlorothiazide, then metoprolol, and finally added amlodipine, lisinopril … Continue reading →

Jermaine Smith, 31, shot while trying to rob a pharmacy and later arrested. (Stockton PD / June 9, 2012) 6:10 p.m. PDT, June 9, 2012 STOCKTON A man who allegedly tried to rob the Stockton Pharmacy along East Main Street at gunpoint is under arrest Saturday after being shot by a store employee. The robbery happened on Thursday, with a police report stating that a man entered the pharmacy with a semi-automatic handgun. He demanded that everyone in the pharmacy get on the ground, and then told an employee he wanted money. This employee then took out a handgun of his own and shot at the suspect, making the man flee the pharmacy. Police say they got a call about a person shot a little while later. Upon responding to the call, they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds who matched the description of the suspect in the attempted robbery. The man 31-year-old Jermaine Lynn Smith was taken to the hospital for an overnight stay, only to be interviewed by detectives then arrested. Smith, a documented gang member, faces three felony charges stemming from the robbery, as well as felony parole violation charge. According to police the pharmacist who … Continue reading →

IRONTON -- A family pharmacy with a strong regional presence has found a new home Lawrence County. Fruth Pharmacy, owned and operated by the West Virginia-based Fruth family, broke ground Friday on a new, 10,000-square-foot full-service pharmacy located near the intersection of U.S. 52 and State Route 141. The pharmacy will be located across the street from the $18.5 million, 46,000-square-foot St. Mary's Medical Campus in Ironton. The St. Mary's campus is expected to open this summer. Fruth Pharmacy is slated for completion in mid-October. It will be Fruth's 26th pharmacy, with 16 locations in West Virginia and 10 in Ohio, employing more than 600 people. Approximately 25 jobs will be created when the new Fruth opens for business. "We are excited about coming to Ironton and Lawrence County," said Lynne Fruth, president of the pharmacy chain started in 1952 by her parents, Jack and Frances "Babs" Fruth. "My dad liked to say he came to West Virginia with a suitcase full of dreams. "We are excited to continue that in a business that is truly a family affair, by providing excellent customer service in a family atmosphere and offering good value for the items that families want to buy." … Continue reading →

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The former owner of a West Lafayette pharmacy admits to defrauding Medicaid out of more than 3.5 million dollars, but he will avoid jail time. The old Family Pharmacare has been completely cleaned out with a for lease sign in the window. Back in November, federal agents raided the pharmacy, taking away a number of boxes as evidence. Shedron pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicaid out of more than 3.5 million dollars and income tax evasion to the tune of a half million dollars. If convicted, the charges could have meant up to 15 years in prison. Last week, a judge accepted the plea, whereby Shedron will avoid jail time. Shedron's punishment is three- fold. First., he will never be able open a pharmacy like this one that provided federal health benefits. Second, he has to pay back 3.5 million in fraudulent billing. As part of that, he had to sell more than a dozen pieces of jewelry and his extensive baseball card collection, worth more than $215,000 and includes cards like an $11,000 Mickey Mantle Card and other greats like Cy Young, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson. See more here: Pharmacy owner admits to fraud … Continue reading →

PLANO, TX--(Marketwire -06/07/12)- Today, Pharmaceutical Strategies Group, LLC ("PSG"), America's largest independent pharmacy benefits consulting and solutions firm, announced the immediate availability of a suite of Specialty Pharmacy Management Services featuring their RxDiagnostic for Specialty service, enabling large employers, health systems, managed care organizations and Taft-Hartley Funds/Unions to develop and implement a comprehensive specialty pharmacy management strategy to address their rapidly growing specialty drug spend. Plan sponsors are often resource-challenged and rely on specialty pharmacies or their medical and PBM vendors for information and guidance on specialty pharmacy management. The RxDiagnostic for Specialty and downstream solutions provide critical information and guidance as well as services not readily available in the marketplace, until now. Plan design, vendor performance, clinical management, reimbursement management, and site-of-care management are independently analyzed, reviewed, and benchmarked against best practices using sophisticated healthcare analytics. The unique feature of the diagnostic is the integrated performance analysis using both pharmacy and medical data. With 50% or more of the specialty drug spend falling into the medical benefit, utilizing proven data integration and analytics tools are critical to understanding performance and creating solutions. PSG utilizes their data integration/healthcare information analytics tool and clinical business intelligence engine, Artemetrx(SM), to support the … Continue reading →