Another compounding pharmacy this time in Tinton Falls, N.J. has recalled a product after health care providers in a Connecticut hospital identified fungus in it, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced. The health care providers found floating particles in five bags of magnesium sulfate IV solution made by Med Prep Consulting Inc., and the agency said the solution may have been distributed to other facilities in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. For the time being, the FDA is telling health care providers and facilities to stop using all products from Med Prep, saying they should be returned to the pharmacy. Giving a patient a contaminated injectable drug could result in a life-threatening infection, said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDAs Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. We do not have reports of patient infections. However, due to a lack of sterility assurance at the facility and out of abundance of caution, this recall is necessary to protect patients. The FDA is working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state officials in New Jersey and Connecticut. Med Prep has temporarily halted all production, including processing and shipping. So far, there has not … Continue reading →

By JoNel Aleccia, Senior Writer, NBC News A New Jersey compounding pharmacy has temporarily shuttered operations after Connecticut hospital officials reported finding visible mold in bags of a vital injection drug. Med Prep Consulting Inc., of Tinton Falls, agreed to stop making and shipping medications after recalling all lots of all products -- including the magnesium sulfate intravenous solution that sparked concerns starting last week, Food and Drug Administration officials said Monday. The move followed a voluntary consent order enacted Friday that will remain in effect until at least March 22, officials with the New Jersey State Board of Pharmacy said. The recall potentially affects thousands of bags, syringes and vials of premixed solution. This investigation is evolving. At this time, in an abundance of caution, the Department of Health recommends that any health care facility that has received products from Med Prep should inventory them and remove them from use, New Jersey Health Commissioner Mary E. O'Dowd said in a statement. At least thirteen hospitals in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania apparently received the firms 50-milliliter bags of magnesium sulfate 2 grams in dextrose 5 percent in water, a solution commonly used to replace vital electrolytes in hospitalized … Continue reading →

Published: March. 18, 2013 at 1:17 PM METAIRIE, La., March 18 (UPI) -- Authorities in Louisiana said they arrested a pharmacy burglary suspect accused of leaving behind the pickax he allegedly used to break through a wall. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to the pharmacy in Metairie Feb. 18 and discovered someone had used a pickax to chisel a person-sized hole in the business' wall and made off with an undisclosed amount of narcotics, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Monday. Investigators found a pickax at the scene believed to have been used to break though the cinder block wall. The tool still had a price tag attached and was tracked to a home improvement store, where deputies obtained surveillance camera footage of a man buying the pickax and a sledge hammer. The cameras also captured footage of the man's license plate. Deputies said the same man was seen on surveillance footage from a store near the pharmacy on the night of the burglary. The man, identified as Scott Rodrigue, 43, allegedly had some of the stolen narcotics at his residence, the sheriff's office said. Rodrigue was charged with pharmacy burglary and drug possession. He was released on … Continue reading →

DEERFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Walgreens (WAG) (WAG) recently presented the latest research on how community pharmacy programs, as well as new adherence models and metrics, can help drive better medication adherence. The research, presented at the World Congress Summit in Philadelphia last Friday, demonstrates the companys success in improving patient medication adherence by developing an infrastructure that tracks patient level adherence and uses predictive modeling along with risk stratification to identify patient patterns. Kristi Rudkin, PharmD, senior director of product development for Walgreens, and Michael S. Taitel, PhD, Walgreens senior director of clinical outcomes and analytic services, discussed the research findings along with product-specific interventions focused on empowering patients to better self-manage their condition. The discussion also examined the latest research related to new-to-therapy counseling and automated Interactive Voice Responses (IVR) refill reminders. Medication non-adherence is one of the greatest and most costly barriers in treating illness today, Rudkin said. By developing programs and services that can help reduce these barriers, and examining ways to drive cost savings and improved health outcomes through better adherence, we can help more people get, stay and live well. New-to-therapy patients often face adherence challenges while trying to learn a new medication regimen. A retrospective … Continue reading →

FLORHAM PARK, NJ--(Marketwire - Mar 19, 2013) - The Specialty Pharmacy Association of America (SPAARx), the largest national association representing the broad interests of the specialty pharmacy industry, today announced it will be advocating against the impending cuts to Medicare reimbursement that are being driven by the sequestration process and will go into effect on April 1, 2013. The proposed 2% cut in reimbursement will apply to drugs dispensed by pharmacies under Medicare Part B, Medicare Part D, and Medicare Advantage plans.These cuts will create an undue hardship for the specialty pharmacy industry that has been increasing patient services within an environment where margins are already being compressed.An additional cut of 2% to the Medicare portion of reimbursement will further depress pharmacy reimbursement causing many specialty drugs to be dispensed at a significant loss. "Specialty pharmacies will face an unjustified financial burden if government reimbursement under Medicare Part B, Medicare Part D, and Medicare Advantage plans is cut by 2%," said Bill Sullivan, Interim Executive Director of the Specialty Pharmacy Association of America.Sullivan continued, "These pharmacies provide life-saving medications and high touch services for patients suffering from complex disease states.They do so because they are key partners in the care … Continue reading →