FDA Requests that Health Care Providers and Regulators Encourage Outsourcing Facility Registration
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has encouraged entities that purchase compounded sterile drugs to meet the medical needs of patients that cannot be met by FDA-approved products to consider requiring their providers to register as outsourcing facilities with FDA. In addition to sending letters to these entities, Hamburg sent additional letters to state […]
Read More ›New York State to Permit Limited Medical Marijuana Prescribing
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo plans to announce an executive action that would permit limited prescribing of medical marijuana in up to 20 hospitals within the state. According to The New York Times, Cuomo will utilize a 1980 public health provision, the Antonio G. Olivieri Controlled Substance Therapeutic Research Program, to implement his plan without approval […]
Read More ›Teen Prescription Drug Abuse Remains Steady in 2013, Monitoring the Future Survey Finds
Results of the 2013 Monitoring the Future survey show abuse of most types of prescription drugs among teens remained relatively stable in 2013. Over 40,000 students in grades 8, 10, and 12 participated in the 2013 survey, which tracks non-medical use of narcotics, amphetamines, and other types of prescription medications. Results were made available by […]
Read More ›Court Grants Temporary Injunction Against OK Compounding
On August 29, 2013, the District Court of Tulsa County in the state of Oklahoma granted a temporary injunction to enjoin the defendants, including Christopher Parks and OK Compounding, LLC (collectively, OK Compounding), from engaging in certain conduct in connection with plaintiff Rush University Medical Center (Rush). Among other things, the temporary injunction prohibits OK […]
Read More ›Investigative Report Advises Consumers to Look for VIPPS Seal of Approval to Avoid Counterfeits
The dangers of ordering medications online and of receiving illegal, potentially dangerous counterfeit products are highlighted in an investigative report by WFMY News in Cleveland, OH. Reporters ordered Lipitor® and Viagra®, two of the drugs most commonly purchased online, from three Web sites that they believed appeared to be legitimate pharmacy Web sites. After their […]
Read More ›Study Finds Medication Synchronization Programs Improve Adherence Rates
Appointment-based medication synchronization (ABMS) programs improve patient adherence by 3.4 to 6.1 times, a study published in the November/December 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association reports. ABMS programs allow pharmacists to coordinate a patient’s chronic refill medications so that they all come due on a single day of the month. According […]
Read More ›United States Pharmacopeial Convention Joins Anti-Counterfeiting Campaign
Citing a global health crisis permeating an international marketplace, United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) announced that it would be joining the Fight the Fakes campaign, a collaboration among several health organizations that aims to “help protect people from fake medicines,” according to a USP press release. The Fight the Fakes campaign seeks to build a […]
Read More ›Twitter Offers Insight into College Students’ Medication Misuse
College students are taking to Twitter to talk about prescription drugs, often revealing how they misuse medications, according to two recent studies. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania monitored 2,100 Tweets over a one-week period and found that 60% to 70% of the messages spoke of drug abuse and misuse. Another study from Brigham Young […]
Read More ›Prescription Drug Abuse Fastest Growing Drug Threat, Reports DEA
Prescription drug abuse continues to be the nation’s fastest growing drug problem, and abuse of controlled substance prescription drugs poses a significant drug threat to the United States, stresses the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2013 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary. The agency notes that nearly 30% of law enforcement agencies responding to the 2013 […]
Read More ›Keep the Holidays Merry – Move Your Medications
The AWARXE® Consumer Protection Program encourages consumers to move medications from their medicine cabinets into a secure area for the holidays to protect loved ones. It is not uncommon when guests visit that pain pills, stimulants, and tranquilizers are removed from medicine cabinets to support prescription drug abuse habits. According to the Substance Abuse and […]
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