Content about Health & Wellness

NEW YORK — The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus on Monday referred advertising for the dietary supplement Trigosamine Fast Acting (Trigo FA) to the Federal Trade Commission for further review following Patent Health’s failure to modify claims.

ALBERT LEA, Minn. — Among the best real estate in a supermarket is the checkout line, where customers usually can find shelves of candy, gum and other small items. But a supermarket in Albert Lea, Minn., is offering healthy choices to a captive audience, according to published reports.

The Albert Lea Tribune reported that the Hy-Vee store there has unveiled its Blue Zones checkout lane. Instead of junk food, the lane features granola bars, dried fruit, soy nuts and string cheese.

WASHINGTON — Five senators have issued a letter to Food and Drug Administration commissioner Margaret Hamburg to expand Americans' access to affordable medications by avoiding the delay of generic drug approvals.

NEW YORK — While several drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes are on the market, researchers have found that the best first-line option is metformin.

Led by Wendy Bennett, an assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, researchers reviewed 140 trials and 26 observational studies of head-to-head comparisons of monotherapy or combination therapy that reported intermediate or long-term clinical outcomes or harms of six oral diabetes medications.

RIDGEFIELD, Conn. — Two organizations focused on chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder have joined Drive4COPD, an organization founded by drug maker Boehringer Ingelheim that seeks to raise awareness of the disease.

Drive4COPD announced that the U.S. COPD Coalition and the COPD Alliance had joined the campaign, which now includes 40 associations and companies. The U.S. COPD Coalition adds another 38 organizations.

NEW YORK — "Fake drugs are a big threat and an exploding threat," Kumar Kibble, deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the news program "60 Minutes" in a segment that appeared Sunday night.

WASHINGTON — Members of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association last week elected Paul Sturman, president and general manager of Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, to chair the association’s board, the association announced Monday.

ST. LOUIS — Patients with smart phones using pharmacy benefits served by Express Scripts can access their accounts through a new application launched Monday, the PBM said.

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa. — McNeil last week finalized the terms of a consent decree of permanent injunction with the Food and Drug Administration for manufacturing facilities operated by the McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico; Fort Washington, Pa.; and Lancaster, Pa.

The consent decree is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON — Reps. Charles Boustany, R-La., and John Larson, D-Conn., on Friday introduced bipartisan legislation that would eliminate the “use-it-or-lose-it” provision associated with flexible spending accounts.

CAMP HILL, Pa. — Rite Aid is working with Sharps Compliance to help customers dispose of unused medications, the retailer said Monday.

Customers can buy a Sharps Compliance medication-disposal envelope at a Rite Aid store for $3.99, place unused prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs inside and then send it via the U.S. Postal Service to the incinerator.

ELMSFORD, N.Y. — Specialty pharmacy provider BioScrip had sales of $450.4 million in fourth quarter 2010 and $1.6 billion for the year as a whole, according to financial results released Friday.

Sales for the quarter were $108.8 million higher than in fourth quarter 2009, while sales for the fiscal year were $300 million higher than in fiscal year 2009. However, the company still had net losses of $67.1 million for the quarter and $69.1 million for the year.