Content about Top Stories

Health care is evolving. As obvious of a statement as that is, it doesn’t change the fact that it is very real. Throughout last year, there was intense discussion on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and what impact the outcome of the presidential election might have on its future. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled and elections are settled, healthcare companies and providers across the country are implementing strategies to meet ACA requirements.

E-prescribing offers many well-known benefits to physicians, pharmacists and patients alike. Beyond the well-known patient benefits, real-time transactions with automated requests and responses promise to create efficiencies by speeding the medication ordering process, reducing or eliminating the back-and-forth communications between pharmacists and clinicians commonly associated with handwritten prescriptions.

Products often fail before they ever find their way to market. Because our firm reviews more than 2,500 new health, beauty and wellness products, and sees approximately 13,000 packaging changes and line extensions annually, I’ve seen this firsthand.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears Holdings has announced that Ryan Vero will join the company as SVP and president of grocery, drug and pharmacy.

Vero most recently served as the EVP and chief merchandising/marketing officer for OfficeMax. In his new role with Sears Holdings, Vero will be responsible for the oversight, leadership and growth, both in-store and online, for the company's grocery, drug and pharmacy businesses.

MATTHEWS, N.C. — Family Dollar Stores has named Colin McGinnis to the position of SVP store operations support, store development and procurement. McGinnis will report to Barry Sullivan, EVP store operations.

DURHAM, N.C. — More than two-fifths of retailers plan to increase spending on online marketing this year, and nearly half have invested in new mobile apps, according to a new survey.

The survey, titled "Loading the Sleigh: Marketers' Plans & Expectations for the Holiday Season," conducted by Retail Systems Research on behalf of Bronto Software over the summer, included 179 respondents, mostly with annual sales of between $51 million and $999 million. Bronto makes software for retailers and other commerce-focused companies.

NEW YORK CITY — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Health Commissioner Thomas Farley received their seasonal flu vaccination Thursday morning at a Duane Reade pharmacy in New York City, demonstrating the importance of taking proactive steps to prevent the spread of influenza.

CINCINNATI — Kroger on Wednesday announced a pair of executive appointments — Marnette Perry will assume the role of SVP strategic initiatives and operations, while Michael Ellis has been named SVP retail divisions. 

FORT LEE, N.J. — Supermarkets are facing increased competition from dollar stores, according to a new survey from Perception Research Services International.

SILVER SPRING, M.D. — The Food and Drug Administration may be willing to speed up trials for drugs that could be a big benefit to society despite their risks.

According to several published reports, FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg recently told a group of scientific advisers that the agency is considering allowing makers of drugs having a societal benefit to conduct faster clinical trials with a smaller group of patients than is now required.

NEW YORK — An article recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine examines the role that impulse marketing and customer psychology in supermarkets contributes to obesity and related health problems.

 WASHINGTON — Walgreens on Thursday filed a suit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration over the agency's ban on Walgreens' distribution of controlled substances from a Florida facility, according to a report published by Bloomberg late Thursday evening. 

Walgreens charged that the DEA relied "on 'outdated data' involving oxycodone to justify suspending distribution of the drugs from its Jupiter, Florida, facility. [Walgreens] asked the court to lift the suspension order," the report read.