-
Should health insurance pay for compounded medications?
Jason Poquette PharmaceuticalFormer President Ronald Reagan once quipped that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." Today, it seems like we could exchange the words "the government" with "your insurance" with exactly the same sentiment, and we wouldn't be far off.
-
Where has all the money gone in healthcare?
Mike Wokasch PharmaceuticalHealthcare costs keep going up with fingers often pointed at drug companies. At the same time, the pharmaceutical industry has decades of success delivering safer and more effective drugs to prevent and treat diseases that previously accounted for debilitating sickness and often death.
-
In the face of hospital closures, pharmacies can play a crucial role
Jason Poquette PharmaceuticalHospital-based pharmacists interested in the advancement of the profession need to think about the role we play in helping hospitals improve their bottom line. Great service to patients — service that improves their health and quality of life — depends upon a functioning and profitable institution within which to offer such services.
-
Research: American doctors are ‘drowning in paperwork’
Scott E. Rupp Healthcare AdministrationAccording to a new study, U.S. doctors spend nearly 17 percent of their working lives on nonpatient-related paperwork — time that might otherwise be spent caring for patients. The findings also suggest that the more time doctors spend on such tasks, the unhappier they are about having chosen medicine as a career.
-
‘Dishing’ out a new test to improve breast cancer treatment
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareExcluding cancers of the skin, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States, accounting for 29 percent of newly diagnosed cancers. Breast cancer incidence and death rates generally increase with age, and 79 percent of new cases and 88 percent of breast cancer deaths occur in women 50 years of age and older.
-
Why do pharmacists need to learn leadership skills?
Greg L. Alston PharmaceuticalA fairly frequent comment I get from student pharmacists goes something like this, "I don't really want to be a boss, why do I need to know leadership and management skills?" Well, aside from the fact that every employer on the planet is looking for people who can lead their business successfully, there is not much reason to hone your management skills.
-
2 days of chemotherapy drug may control immune disease post-transplant
Lynn Hetzler Medical & Allied HealthcareA short course of a chemotherapy drug may control life-threatening immune response, according to a new study, and even eliminate transplant patients' need for six months of immune suppression therapy. Patients receive a two-day course of cyclophosphamide after bone marrow transplant surgery in addition to receiving two other chemotherapy drugs before surgery.
-
Should we feel sorry for Big Pharma’s struggles?
Mike Wokasch PharmaceuticalAre we feeling sorry for the struggling pharmaceutical industry yet? Generic drugs continue to replace many of the multibillion-dollar blockbuster products of the past. Biosimilars threaten extraordinary revenues and profits of the once-seemingly-irreplaceable specialty biologics. Research pipelines are depleted, and the cost of discovering and developing new products is reported to be more than a billion dollars.
-
Winning the war against brain tumors with nanotechnology
Dorothy L. Tengler Medical & Allied HealthcareThe Greeks used the Trojan horse to enter the city of Troy and win the war after a fruitless 10-year siege. For brain tumors, the war is ongoing, but researchers may have finally found their secret weapon using nanotechnology.
-
CVS’s sneaky move to recoup loss of tobacco sales
Jason Poquette PharmaceuticalWhen drugstore giant CVS Health decided to discontinue the sale of cigarettes in their CVS pharmacies, many folks in the healthcare community applauded their noble move. In spite of the loss of millions of dollars in sales, they pulled the plug on this line of income in an effort simply to position themselves as a "healthier" place to shop. Or so we thought.
All Pharmaceutical Articles