USPharmacisthttp://www.uspharmacist.comhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/16469/Ultimately, it is the pharmacist's responsibility to check all prescriptions filled, and the consequences of not performing due diligence could be severe. <br /> 11/19/2009 9:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/16469/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/16056/Those who are responsible for formulating health care policy should understand that an ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure. <br />10/21/2009 9:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/16056/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/15814/The dissemination of information in virtually every form via e-mail is mind-boggling. But as popular as e-mail has become, it is also serving up a fair share of spam and other viscious messages that generally are untrue, are doctored, or otherwise cannot be verified. 9/21/2009 9:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/15814/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/14447/While there is no question that technology has reshaped the profession of pharmacy on many levels, pharmacists are sometimes challenged by the overload of information. <br /> 8/20/2009 9:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/14447/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/14047/The FDA's position seems to cast aspersions on the entire compounding community. <br /> 7/20/2009 9:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/14047/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/13848/ <span style="font-family: agaramond; font-size: 13px;">PharmQD<em>, </em>a new online networking and informational tool<em>,</em> offers something for everyone aligned professionally to pharmacy.</span> 6/18/2009 10:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/13848/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/13408/In the midst of the H1N! scare, we can all be thankful is that pharmacists will continue to mitigate the fear by their thoughtful and insightful counseling efforts. 5/19/2009 9:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/13408/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/13020/An incredible thing is taking place in this country: A politician is taking the nation's pulse on health care by actually touching base with regular citizens and asking them their opinions. 4/20/2009 9:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/13020/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/12630/ <span style="font-family: agaramond; font-size: 13px;">While there is no question that our health care system needs an overhaul, importing drugs from Canada is not the answer.</span> 3/18/2009 9:00:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/12630/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/12295/If pharmacists are going to play an active role in getting this country's health care system back on track, they need the support of the people who hire them. 2/20/2009 11:30:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/12295/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/12120/Pharmacists working in hospitals are largely unseen by patients, but they are no less important than community pharmacists in elevating the quality of health care. 1/26/2009 2:37:57 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/12120/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11775/It's been nearly 60 years since George Orwell wrote his prophetic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , which coined the idiomatic term Big Brother as a euphemistic way of describing an invasion of our privacy.12/15/2008 4:55:15 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11775/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11461/W hat could Domino's Pizza and pharmacy possibly have in common? Well, nothing I'm aware of, but Save Mart Supermarkets and Lucky stores in California have apparently ripped a page right out of Domino's marketing playbook by announcing one of the most thoughtless pharmacy marketing campaigns to reach my desk, the "19-Minute Promise.11/18/2008 11:20:26 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11461/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10990/Smoking is a tough habit to break; some may even say it is an addiction.10/17/2008 11:20:31 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10990/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10973/When the great English poet Alexander Pope wrote, "To err is human, to forgive divine," I don't think he was referring to the legal sharks that feed off the errors made by health care professionals.9/18/2008 4:56:09 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10973/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10967/I like New Jersey.8/19/2008 1:37:35 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10967/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10947/For all the hoopla and noise being made by the two presidential hopefuls over the state of our health care, there is not much talk about life expectancy in the United States compared with that in other countries.7/18/2008 8:02:20 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10947/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/9778/It is amazing to me how many issues relating to retail pharmacy haven't changed all that much over the past two decades.6/19/2008 4:52:02 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/9778/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10093/During my retail pharmacy career, nothing made my blood boil more than hearing a patient ask me, How hard is it to fill a prescription? All you have to do is pour pills from one bottle to another...5/20/2008 9:06:16 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10093/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10103/As the Presidential campaigns heat up, there has been much talk about fixing the U.4/18/2008 12:31:42 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10103/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10116/I was having a conversation with some friends the other day who are not pharmacists and the question came up as to why some pharmacists use RPh after their name and others use PharmD ; why some use the more esoteric PD or DPh , and still others use a combination of all of the above.3/20/2008 4:54:22 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10116/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10144/For many seasoned pharmacists, the days of typing prescription labels on a typewriter, filling out patient profiles by hand, submitting paper insurance claims, and handling many other manual administrative chores are distant memories.2/20/2008 3:46:03 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10144/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10165/According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average life expectancy for Americans is 78 years.1/23/2008 9:10:56 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10165/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10179/Whatever winter holiday you celebrate, it's that time of year again when we all become kids for a few weeks.12/20/2007 3:51:10 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10179/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10203/Did you happen to catch a news story that came out last month about a retired Indiana pharmacist who was arrested for working without a current license for the past 17 years? It turns out that Indiana issued him a license in 1981, but the license expired in June 1990.11/19/2007 11:21:45 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10203/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10237/I think most Editors-in-Chief of any magazine will readily admit that one of the absolute joys of their job is receiving letters from their readers.10/18/2007 10:18:02 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10237/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10258/It seems like a day doesn't go by that I am not being asked to fill out one survey or another.9/19/2007 3:48:33 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10258/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10259/What makes men think they are invincible when it comes to getting sick? That's one of those age-old questions that's right up there with why men don't ask for directions.8/20/2007 12:32:28 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10259/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10297/I don't watch a lot of television, but it seems an evening doesn't go by that I am not exposed to a direct-to-consumer (DTC) ad for a prescription medication.7/13/2007 8:04:48 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10297/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10326/As I write this column, I have recently returned from the Annual Meeting of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS).6/19/2007 8:01:38 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10326/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10344/Let's face it: There isn't a pharmacist in practice that wants to make an error.5/18/2007 4:53:17 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10344/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10365/Two decades ago I used the same headline as this editorial, but instead of average manufacturer price (AMP), it was average wholesale price (AWP).4/17/2007 11:20:54 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10365/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10385/Without revealing my exact age, suffice it to say that I am a product of the pre-technical revolution that descended on this country and the profession of pharmacy some 40 years ago.3/21/2007 8:03:47 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10385/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10406/It seems a day doesn't go by that I don't ask myself "Whatever happened to customer service?" During the winter holidays when telephone, Internet, and store traffic was at an all-time high, a drop-off in customer service may be unacceptable, but it is understandable.2/20/2007 8:00:46 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10406/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10446/Over the past several weeks, pharmacists received a mixed bag of news.1/23/2007 3:46:07 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/10446/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11496/Whew! Thank goodness, the elections are finally over.12/22/2006 9:08:35 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11496/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11529/Some are calling Wal-Mart's $4 generic prescription program (which was recently expanded to other states since its initial rollout in Florida) a good marketing move, others are saying it is all smoke and mirrors, and many say it will save consumers money.11/22/2006 8:05:45 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11529/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11550/One of the privileges I enjoy as Editor-in-Chief of U.10/20/2006 8:04:43 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11550/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11566/For most people, Those Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer conjures up the images of the beach, hot weather, vacations, and possibly Nat King Cole, who arguably made that song famous.9/22/2006 10:19:29 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11566/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11592/The pictures we see in the history books of the first drugstores generally depict small apothecary shops with pharmacists diligently compounding behind a prescription counter, with bottles of chemicals as its backdrop.8/25/2006 11:20:00 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11592/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11620/W hen it comes to health care, our government just doesn't get it, and if history is any barometer, it probably never will.7/20/2006 4:53:37 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11620/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11642/US Pharm .6/20/2006 9:06:33 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11642/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11674/US Pharm .5/15/2006 3:48:24 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11674/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11691/US Pharm .4/17/2006 8:05:40 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11691/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11704/I don't particularly like it when someone uses the expression, "I told you so," but when it comes to Medicare Part D, I must say, I did tell you so .3/15/2006 3:46:38 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11704/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11703/2006;3:1.3/15/2006 9:08:53 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11703/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11728/Not only was Truth or Consequences a popular 1950s television game show (and a town in New Mexico ), it has become an ongoing real-life event of the 21st century.2/20/2006 10:13:31 AMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11728/http://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11748/Some pharmacy pundits are saying it might be the beginning of the end of the stranglehold pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have had on the pharmaceutical community for the past two-plus decades.1/17/2006 1:37:14 PMhttp://www.uspharmacist.com/content/d/straight_talk/c/11748/