Content about Governor

At the beginning of the year, a major global controversy was settled when it turned out that a study published in The Lancet in 1998 linking the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine to autism in children turned out to be a whopper of a fraud.


But despite the exposure of the study’s author — and outbreaks of preventable diseases among children in the United States and Europe, thanks to parents who opted to have their kids vaccinated — it appears that sowing fear of childhood vaccines still appears to have some currency.


NEW YORK — Pharmacists are urging New York governor Andrew Cuomo to give the green light to legislation that would prevent health insurers from requiring patients to receive their drugs via mail order, according to published reports.

According to the reports, local pharmacists said at a press conference that the bill would help stop losses of pharmacies and jobs.

WASHINGTON — A bill awaiting a signature or veto from New York governor Andrew Cuomo that would restrict home delivery of chronic medications has attracted criticism from the Federal Trade Commission and the pharmacy benefit manager lobby.

In a letter to New York state Sen. James Seward responding to the senator's request for comments, the FTC said New York Assembly Bill 5502-B would harm consumers and raise the prices of drugs while reducing access to them.

CINCINNATI — Kroger has named Keith Dailey as the company's external corporate communications director.

According to the company, Dailey will oversee national media communications for Kroger, which operates 2,458 supermarkets and multidepartment stores in 31 states under two dozen local banner names.

Serving as the spokesman for such a large company should come easy to Dailey. As the communications director for former Ohio governor Ted Strickland, Dailey likely had his fair share of media issues to tackle.

WASHINGTON — In his 2011-2012 budget, New York governor Andrew Cuomo included a proposal to update New York’s Medicaid program. The announcement comes at the heels of New Jersey governor Chris Christie's motion to modernize the state's Medicaid plan.

Similarly to New Jersey's plan, Cuomo said New York's “Proposal to Redesign Medicaid” could save state taxpayers $350 million though 2015 by managing prescription drug benefits similarly to those in Medicare and private-sector programs.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association on Friday sent a joint letter to every governor and state Medicaid director on the importance of pharmacies in Medicaid and the industry’s interest in working with state governments to cut costs.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Food and Drug Administration principal deputy commissioner Joshua Sharfstein will leave the agency to become head of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, according to published reports.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Sharfstein, the FDA’s top official after commissioner Margaret Hamburg, had received an invitation to head the state health department from Gov. Martin O’Malley.

Before assuming his position at the FDA, Sharfstein served as head of the Baltimore City Health Department.

A budgetary crisis in Washington state has spawned new threats to pharmacy retailers as lawmakers and Gov. Chris Greqoire grapple with an expected shortfall of $1.4 billion in 2011.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (Dec. 1) Gov. Jay Nixon, D-Mo., on Tuesday campaigned for a sweeping expansion of efforts to battle methamphetamine, including legislation that would make Missouri the third state in the nation to require a prescription for the cough-cold ingredient pseudoephedrine.

It’s not a new issue for the Show Me State — several local municipalities that fall between St. Louis and the Missouri capital of Jefferson City last year passed local ordinances that required prescriptions for PSE products.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores applauded a bill signed by Louisiana government officials that will enable pharmacists to administer medication therapy management services to patients in the state.

The newly-enacted law -- signed June 25 by Gov. Bobby Jindal (D) and introduced by pharmacist Rep. Fred Mills, D-St. Martin -- gives authority to the state Department of Health and Hospitals to create an MTM pharmacy program.

Remember “Gilligan’s Island?” Man, that was a great show. The thing about “Gilligan’s Island” was that no matter what else happened, you just knew they were never getting off that island.

It really didn’t matter how rock bands, movie stars or Russian cosmonauts washed up on shore, the passengers and crew of the S.S. Minnow were never getting off that island.

And that’s why eventually you just had to stop watching. You already knew the ending, and at some point the jokes just got stale.