Content about NACDS Annual Digital

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration is working on creating new and simplified drug information sheets for consumers to replace the multipage and sometimes labyrinthine packets supplied with drugs at retail pharmacies, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the agency was testing the information sheets while the U.S. Pharmacopeia Convention was developing a new standard for drug labels.

NEW YORK — Crossmark and Market Performance Group are looking to optimize their role in the drug industry through a new venture.

The companies announced that they have merged their respective chain drug sales businesses to form MPG Drug, which will be a division of Crossmark. With this merger, MPG Drug now will be the largest provider of headquarter sales and retail services in the U.S. drug industry, the companies said, by providing growth solutions in a timely manner.

NEW YORK — Many U.S. voters are in favor of expanding the use of nurse practitioners for routine medical care, and most believe that the quality of health care would improve if routine care was handled by nurse practitioners and doctors were able to focus more on challenging healthcare issues, according to the findings of a recent survey.

According to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,000 adults, 67% of likely U.S. voters favored training and licensing nurse practitioners to expand the level of routine care they provide.

Drug Store News recently caught up with Adflow Health Networks CEO Melvin Stein to talk about shopper marketing and consumer engagement near the backbench.

DSN: There is a lot of focus today on shopper marketing. How does Adflow Health Networks fit into this trend?

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Darren Singer, a 25-year GlaxoSmithKline veteran, has been named Safeway's SVP pharmacy, health and wellness, the retailer announced.

Singer will be responsible for retail pharmacy operations, specialty care, pharmacy services, compliance, benefit management and managed care for Safeway. He will report to Safeway's merchandising president, Kelly Griffith.

BELTSVILLE, Md. — A U.S. Department of Agriculture study published in March in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that ragweed season is almost 16 days longer than it was in 1995 due to changes in the first frost line of the fall in North America. The first frost steadily has been creeping northward and later into the year, lead researcher Lewis Ziska wrote.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Studies have indicated that the best people to get patients to adhere to their medication therapies are store pharmacists, while the second-best people are nurses. Thus, it’s only natural that getting nurses and pharmacists to collaborate will further improve adherence. The collaborative care track that The Drug Store News Group will introduce at the Retail Clinician Education Congress in August is a step in that direction.