Content about Disease

NEW YORK — Automatic spending cuts stemming from the failure of Congress and the White House to reach a budget deal will likely harm the disease-preventing capabilities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a new report.

GlobalData, a market research and analytics firm, said the slashing of the CDC's funding by $450 million, or 8%, due to the sequester would both hamper its ability to prevent infectious diseases through immunization, surveillance and response programs while also failing to accomplish the goal of decreasing federal spending.

NEW YORK — Thousands of patients in Los Angeles with serious, chronic diseases could soon find themselves unable to get their drugs from community pharmacies, advocates for the pharmacies said.

Patients diagnosed with serious disease have enough on their minds. So Walgreens is doing all it can to make it easier for them to obtain, administer and pay for their specialty and infused medicines, said Mike Ellis, VP specialty pharmacy and infusion.


“The concept is to go where patients are diagnosed and where they reside. We have a large sales force who call on physicians who prescribe these types of medications. But like everything else at Walgreens, it starts with the patient.”


Stopping a viral pandemic of any kind presents a major challenge that historically has often taken decades or even centuries, as occurred in the cases of polio and smallpox. But stopping or even slowing a pandemic is made all the more difficult when people who carry the virus face stigma and ignorance from their families, communities and governments.


WASHINGTON — A bill passed in the Senate will provide measures to speed up the development of treatments for people who desperately need them.

The Senate voted Tuesday to pass S. 3187, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act, which now awaits President Barack Obama's signature. The House approved a similar bill last week.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy has announced the launch of a new in-store fundraising campaign, named Advancing Medical Research, to support medical research and help improve the quality of life for those living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and cystic fibrosis.
 
Funds raised through the campaign will benefit the ALS Therapy Alliance, an organization dedicated to advancing ALS research, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Supporters for the 2012 campaign can donate $1 or $3 at the register in CVS/pharmacy locations and online through June 30.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens unveiled the results of research, conducted by the drug store chain, that demonstrated how its approach to community pharmacy ultimately helped improve outcomes through cost savings, pharmacist-led face-to-face patient counseling and specialized services for disease management.

New research results, presented by Walgreens at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's 24th Annual Meeting and Expo last week in San Francisco, included:

PARIS — A drug under investigation by Sanofi for multiple sclerosis improved several measures of disease activity in patients, according to results of a late-stage clinical trial.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy kicked off on June 5 its 10th annual in-store "Researching a Cure" fundraising campaign to support the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Funds raised through the campaign benefit the ALS Therapy Alliance, an organization dedicated to advancing ALS research. Through the Researching a Cure campaign, CVS/pharmacy has raised more than $23 million in its stores and online to fund new clinical research with the aim of discovering a treatment or cure for ALS. The 2011 campaign will run through June 25.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic division has expanded its suite of services to now include vitamin B12 injections and the human papillomavirus vaccination Gardasil.