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WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The program to offer certain generic drugs virtually for free to Medicare Part D beneficiaries is one of Rite Aid’s many new ways to attract more customers and thus grow its sales and profits, especially in the pharmacy.

(THE NEWS: Rite Aid partners with Envision Insurance Co. to offer Medicare Part D Rx drug plan. For the full story, click here)

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first generic versions of two drugs made by Eli Lilly for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, the agency said Monday.

The FDA announced the approval of generic olanzapine tablets and olanzapine orally disintegrating tablets, respectively generic versions of Lilly's Zyprexa and Zyprexa Zydus. Dr. Reddy's Labs and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA will manufacture olanzapine tablets, while Dr. Reddy's, Apotex and Par Pharmaceuticals will manufacture the orally disintegrating version.

CINCINNATI — Procter & Gamble Professional, the away-from-home division of P&G, on Thursday announced a partnership with Firehouse Subs in support of national Fire Safety month.

WOONSOCKET, R.I., and WASHINGTON — CVS Caremark has partnered with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation to identify, inspire and prepare young Latinos to join healthcare fields through a new healthcare category of the HHF Youth Awards program.

While medication nonadherence is a perennial problem that costs the healthcare system $290 billion per year, one of the least explored facets of it is primary nonadherence, when patients receive new prescriptions on paper or electronically and never drop them off or pick them up. But some researchers hope to change that.


BETHESDA, Md. — Coventry Health Care on Saturday announced that it has partnered with Walgreens, Walmart and Target for 2012 to offer a Medicare prescription drug plan known as First Health Value Plus.

As Coventry’s newest Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, First Health Value Plus is the lowest premium, zero-dollar deductible Part D plan in the United States, the company stated.

WINNIPEG, Canada — PepsiCo Foods Canada announced that its Lay's brand is partnering with National Hockey League team, the Winnipeg Jets, in an exclusive five-year deal that runs until the end of the 2015-2016 NHL hockey season.

As part of the partnership, Lay's now is the official potato chip of the Winnipeg Jets.

ST. LOUIS — Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts will provide services for patients using a drug to manage a debilitating side effect of many anti-cancer treatments, ESI said.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — The use of over-the-counter medicines as a cost savings tool is catching on, of all places, at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. Certain plans under Medicare are utilizing a new prepaid card of sorts to allow members to pay for their OTC medicines. Medicaid administrators, meanwhile, are employing that same card to incentivize healthier behavior among its members.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark has partnered with Direct Relief USA to offer up to $6 million in free flu shots to community clinic and health center patients who are uninsured, the company announced on Tuesday.

More than 400 participating clinics and health centers across the country will identify uninsured individuals from their existing patient populations and provide them with a free flu shot voucher, which is redeemable at more than 7,200 CVS/pharmacy locations and the nearly 600 MinuteClinics inside select CVS/pharmacy stores.

QUINCY, Mass. — Stop & Shop has teamed up with Unilever to support the hunger relief efforts of Feeding America and its local member food banks.

The companies said that they are donating $150,000 to the organization, which will provide more than 1 million meals to families in need.

JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. — A new agreement between Innovation and RxSafe allows Innovation to distribute RxSafe's line of automated, high-density robotic storage and retrieval systems for pharmacies, the two companies said.

Innovation makes the PharmASSIST line of pharmacy automation products, while RxSafe makes the RxSafe and RxVault systems.