STAFFORD-- The Stafford Food Center, a town landmark on West Main Street, will be downsizing but not going out of business as a real estate developer plans to revamp the site. At a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Tuesday an official with a Springfield-based commercial real estate development company presented a "concept plan" for the site that included two smaller buildings in place of the current building that houses the food center. Peter LaPointe, vice president of real estate and construction with The Colvest Group, presented the plan to the PZC, which listened but took no action. LaPointe said he "wasnt at liberty to say" who might be occupying the two new buildings because there is no tenant under lease for either building yet, although he hinted that one might be a pharmacy. Go here to see the original: Stafford Food Center will be downsizing as developer revamps site … Continue reading →

VOL. 128 | NO. 60 | Wednesday, March 27, 2013 In recent years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reported an increase in the number of drug shortages and discontinuations. The number of drug shortages reported to the FDA gained 41 percent to 251 shortages in 2011, compared to 178 shortages reported in 2010. The agency says it continues to see an increasing number of shortages, including drugs used to treat cancer, anesthetics used for patients undergoing surgery, drugs needed for emergency medicine and injectable drugs. The FDA also has reported a spike in the number of medications that have been discontinued. Brett Wright, the owner of Benevere Pharmacy in Collierville, says hes noticed an increase in the number of his clients requesting medications that are no longer commercially available. Wright, who is a pharmacist by training, opened Benevere Pharmacy in May. The pharmacy specializes in custom-making medications that are tailored to meet the medical needs of an individual patient. Sometimes compounding is needed because a patient may be allergic to a certain dye, or an elderly patient may need a medicine in a liquid or suppository form that is not available. In other cases, compounding is necessary because … Continue reading →

In its ongoing effort to crack down on the nation's prescription-drug epidemic, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has gone after doctors, pharmacists, pharmacy chains, wholesale drug suppliers, and now -- FedEx and UPS. Even though the DEA will not confirm it is engaged in the probe, both companies have disclosed in corporate filings that they are targets of a federal investigation related to packages shipped from online pharmacies. Based on the allegations, it appears federal officials are suggesting the shipping companies take responsibility for the prescription drugs inside packages they are transporting. FedEx officials have called the California-based probe "absurd and deeply disturbing," and a threat to customers' privacy. "We are a transportation company -- we are not law enforcement, we are not doctors and we are not pharmacists," FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald said in a prepared statement. Though the probe has been unfolding quietly for several years, the investigation is now gaining headlines and attention from politicians, including Winter Park congressman John Mica. In a letter sent to DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart and Attorney General Eric Holder earlier this month, Mica asked the leaders to recognize "the difficulty and unfairness of requiring those carriers to assume responsibility for the … Continue reading →