Content about Kentucky

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. — Mars Chocolate, the makers of Snickers brand candy, announced today that the company is teaming up with jockey Rosie Napravnik as she attempts to make history in this weekend's Kentucky Derby race.

Mars Chocolate North America officially partnered with Rosie by announcing Snickers will give away 1 million Snickers Bites — which are unwrapped, bite-sized versions of the candy bar — if she wins the famous race on May 4.

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — A growing number of patients on Medicaid are filling their prescriptions through Managed Medicaid plans instead of the fee-for-service model as states switch them over in an effort to improve patient care and cut healthcare costs, but the effects remain unclear, according to a new study.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A weight-loss competition sponsored by mass merchandise retailer Meijer and nutritional scoring company NuVal is enlisting 60,000 team members who will compete for $15,000 in prize money over three months.

NEW YORK — Johnson & Johnson is shopping its women's health unit, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal, which suggested that the business no longer coincided with J&J's "growth priorities." 

The brands managed by the unit include intimacy health KY and women's personal care brands, o.b. tampons and Stayfree and Carefree pads. 

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores on Monday recognized U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) for her continued leadership on behalf of pharmacy patient care. Hagan, joined by seven U.S. Senate colleagues, sent a bipartisan letter of support for medication therapy management to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear on Monday announced the launch of a privately funded, statewide campaign aimed at increasing public awareness about "smurfing," the illegal process of buying products containing pseudoephedrine on behalf of methamphetamine criminals. The goal of the Anti-Smurfing Campaign is to inform potential smurfers and the general public — through signage displayed at pharmacy sales counters — that smurfing is a serious criminal offense that can result in criminal charges and possibly time in jail. 

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Midwestern mass merchandise retailer Meijer will serve as a regional sponsor for an initiative led by the American Diabetes Association, the ADA said.

The group said it had signed a deal whereby Meijer would serve as a regional sponsor for the next five years for the Stop Diabetes Movement in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. Activities will include diabetes camps, walks and others.

ALISO VIEJO, Calif. — A group pushing to increase the number of people vaccinated against influenza has a deal with a Midwestern retailer to encourage vaccination in the region.

Appropriately promoting niche brands within the intimacy health space can be a little trickier than the average consumer packaged goods product. And social media isn’t necessarily the ideal platform — an adult may not be as comfortable “liking” an intimacy enhancement product on Facebook to show their brand affinity, for example. 


CINCINNATI — Kroger announced that Tim Brown now will be responsible for stores in western Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri as president of the company's Delta division.

Brown, 52, has been VP operations in the company's Delta division, based in Roanoke, Va., since 2011; before that, he served as the Mid-Atlantic division's VP merchandising since 2009.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Tuesday partnered with Passport Health Plan, a local Medicaid health plan in Louisville, Ky.,  on a new smoking-cessation program that launched in early January. The program is free to Walgreens customers and Passport members and aims to improve the community’s health by giving smokers the tools, resources and ongoing clinical pharmacist counseling to help them achieve their cessation goals.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The debate on the prescription status of pseudoephedrine in the state of Kentucky heated up last week as the deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Benjamin Tucker on Wednesday told Kentucky lawmakers that they should mandate PSE to Rx-only status, according to reports.

Tucker last week was the keynote speaker at the Kentucky Drug Summit, part of the Kentucky League of Cities annual convention, and headlined a panel of federal, state and local experts to examine pill mills, meth labs and prescription drug abuse.