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Health Care Reform Includes Pharmacy Provisions
Washington, DC — The health care reform bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives includes three pharmacy provisions supported by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS). They are: a series of grant and pilot programs that include medication therapy management (MTM); improvements to the Medicare Part D MTM benefit, including reductions in the cuts to Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement under the average manufacturer price (AMP) model; and a conditional exemption for pharmacies from the durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare accreditation requirements. These changes address the issues of medication adherence and would help to achieve a better approximation of pharmacies’ costs for purchasing generic drugs. The health care reform bill was signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday. |
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Name Change for Heartburn Drug
Silver Spring, MD — The FDA has approved a name change for Kapidex (dexlansoprazole) to avoid confusion with two other medications. Effective in late April 2010, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. will market Kapidex under the new name Dexilant. Since Kapidex was approved in January 2009, there have been reports of dispensing errors due to confusion with the drugs Casodex (bicalutamide) and Kadian (morphine sulfate), which have very different uses. Kapidex is a proton pump inhibitor used to treat heartburn, Casodex, marketed by AstraZeneca, is used to treat advanced prostate cancer, and Kadian, distributed by Actavis Kadian LLC, is an opioid analgesic used to treat pain. There will be no changes made to Kapidex other than its name. |
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Surprising Relationship Between Coffee and Heart Rhythm
San Francisco, CA — In a study presented in March at the American Heart Association’s 50th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention in San Francisco, new research suggests that coffee drinkers may be less likely to be hospitalized for heart rhythm disturbances. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California, followed 130,054 men and women and found that those who reported drinking four or more cups of coffee each day had an 18% lower risk of hospitalization for heart rhythm disturbances, compared to a 7% reduction in risk in those drinking one to three cups per day. While not proof that people should drink coffee to prevent arrhythmias, this report supports the idea that those who are at risk for or have rhythm problems do not necessarily need to abstain from drinking caffeinated coffee. |
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