Content about Congress

WASHINGTON — One of the more recognizable faces of the Natural Products Association, VP global government and scientific affairs Daniel Fabricant, will be leaving association work in favor of the Food and Drug Administration, Drug Store News learned Wednesday.

A staunch advocate of natural products who has testified before Congress on behalf of the supplement industry, Fabricant will join the FDA as director of the division of dietary supplement programs by the end of February.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Diabetes Association on Tuesday released its year-in-review for 2010 regarding progress being made in the diabetes field.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation announced that it has urged the House to support a vote to repeal last year’s healthcare-reform law, saying the measure already has begun to discourage job creation and should be replaced with legislation that reduces healthcare costs while protecting jobs.



Last month, the American Journal of Managed Care published a review of more than 40 years worth of studies from various medical journals that demonstrated that the best way to improve adherence is to get patients to talk to the store pharmacist; the second-best way is to get them to talk to a nurse before they leave the hospital.


WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — The CVS Caremark-sponsored study that illustrates pharmacists and nurses are the most effective healthcare "voice" in promoting medication adherence among patients is important because it marks the first step toward unlocking the potential of the collaborative care model (i.e., pharmacists and nurses), and getting those people who matter to pay attention.

NEW YORK — Legislation to ban patent litigation settlements between branded and generic drug companies appears unlikely to find success, according to published reports.

The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, reported on Sunday that language in the Senate appropriations bill that would ban so-called “pay for delay” settlements between drug makers did not appear likely to pass. The newspaper reported that the Senate appeared likely to support a resolution supported by the House that did not contain the language.

The results of the 2010 mid-term elections were dramatic, putting the Republican party firmly in control of the House of Representatives. And the GOP’s “Pledge to America” promises big spending and tax cuts, as well as a repeal of the health-reform law, in direct opposition to the goals of the Obama administration and most Democrats. To gauge the election results and what they mean for pharmacy retailing, Drug Store News interviewed Steve Anderson, president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Independent pharmacists are hailing a move in Congress to exempt pharmacies from burdensome accounting requirements imposed by the Federal Trade Commission.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — This is part of the future of health care that Walgreens envisioned when it first began to make a major commitment to specialty pharmacy — it knew it could save payers and patients a whole lot of money.

(THE NEWS: Walgreens promotes big savings via monitored oncology Rx therapy. For the full story, click here)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Several organizations representing retailers and consumer healthcare product manufacturers want Congress to reverse a provision in the healthcare-reform act that would prohibit the use of flexible spending accounts to purchase over-the-counter medicines without a prescription.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — No matter how you slice it, the flexible spending account changes that are part of the overall Affordable Care Act aren’t doing a whole lot by way of saving healthcare dollars, at least not for patients. Indeed, about the only benefactors are those folks who have to make dollars and cents out of what might become the first casualty of the Obamacare healthcare package — those who have to explain how the administration plans to pay for this package, you know, by not raising taxes.

ROCKVILLE, Md. — A backlog of more than 2,000 drug entities and devices is awaiting approval. That’s the situation facing the Food and Drug Administration and the generic pharmaceutical industry—and it’s the chief impetus behind the FDA’s push to impose user fees on generic drug makers seeking the agency’s review and approval for their brand-equivalent medicines.