Content about Drug

Regulators, healthcare providers and the public at large have taken note of the rise in prescription drug substance abuse. A recent article titled "Oxycodone Prescriptions Rose Sharply" in the New York Times (1/11/2012) describes trends of double-digit percentage increases in the dispensing of certain narcotic based painkillers.

LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas-based supermarket operator United Supermarkets has teamed up with FlavoRx to roll out the Fillmaster Plus dispensing technology at all of the chain's pharmacies.

Fillmaster Plus is a pharmacy device that automates drug reconstitution. How it works: When a prescription bottle is scanned using the Fillmaster Plus, the unit displays the medication's name, volume, strength and the amount of purified water it needs for reconstitution. This process reduces the risk of dispensing errors and reconstitution is completed in a matter of seconds, FlavoRx said.

A group representing independent pharmacies is urging Congress to cut the deficit by reducing healthcare expenditures, but “without compromising patients’ access to their pharmacy of choice or harming local jobs.” In a letter sent last month to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the National Community Pharmacists Association suggested increasing use of generic drugs, encouraging such services as medication therapy management, collecting manufacturer rebates, and allowing patients to choose their pharmacies and avoid requirements to use mail-order services.

NEW YORK — Google has settled with the federal government for $500 million over allegations that it displayed advertisements for black-market pharmacies, according to published reports.

The New York Times reported that Google would pay to settle an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice that it had displayed ads from online pharmacies that sell drugs without prescriptions and sometimes sell counterfeit drugs.

INDIANAPOLIS — A federal court has upheld Eli Lilly's patent covering a drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Lilly said Friday.

Lilly said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey that had invalidated Lilly's patent for Strattera (atomoxetine) in a patent infringement case that Lilly had filed against generic drug maker Actavis, when the latter sought regulatory approval for a generic version of Strattera.

BECKLEY, W.Va. — A West Virginia company has released a medication disposal product designed to allow environmentally safe disposal of unused medicines and render the medicines undesirable to potential drug abusers.

V23, a subsidiary of Vaught, announced the launch of Element MDS. The product consists of a tamper-evident bottle into which unused drugs can be placed and then mixed with a special powder and tap water, which turn them into an undesirable, solid gelatinous substance.

ALEXANDRI, Va. — In a letter penned Thursday by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores to Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, the association stated that while it shares the goal of reducing prescription drug costs, authorizing the reimportation of prescription medications — as sought in S.319, the Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2011 — raises concerns about patient health and safety.

NEEDHAM, Mass. Pfizer is pulling out of a development deal for a potential brain cancer drug, saying it is not a strategic priority, according to the drug's developer Celldex Therapeutics.

Celldex said it will regain full worldwide rights to develop and sell rindopepimut from Pfizer. The drug candidate also is called CDX-110. In May, the company reported positive results form a midstage study on the drug.

Celldex will regain rights to the drug candidate on Nov. 1.