The definitions of the two characteristics covered this week are from the American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.

Integrity is defined as "The entire, unimpaired state of any thing, particularly of the mind; moral soundness or purity; incorruptness; uprightness; honesty."

Responsibility is "the state of being accountable or answerable, as for a trust or office, or for a debt. Accountability is "the state of being liable to answer for one's conduct; liability to give account, and to receive reward or punishment for actions."

For many years, pharmacists were rated as the number one trusted profession. That rating has slipped a little in recent years, possibly partially due to excessive and sometimes biased media coverage of some of the unfortunate events that have occurred in pharmacy practice, including compounding, theft of controlled drug substances, inattentive dispensing, errors, etc.

The abominable decisions and actions by a few pharmacists in recent years have reflected negatively on ALL pharmacists. Hopefully, the bad decisions will result in appropriate punishment being meted out by law enforcement and pharmacy regulatory agencies so pharmacists can regain their number one rating as the most trusted professional.

While taking on the responsibility of compounding individualized drug preparations for specific patients, you often literally have the patient's life in your hands. Integrity and responsibility are minimal requirements as your patient is trusting in you.

Loyd V. Allen, Jr., PhD, RPh
Editor-in-Chief
International Journal of Pharmaceutical Compounding
Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy Twenty-second edition

News

Medicare Cheats are Cheating You!
Medicare spent more than $30 million in 2012 on questionable HIV medication costs. The report describes several possible fraud schemes, all paid for by Medicare's prescription drug program known as Part D.

• In Detroit, a 77-year-old woman purportedly filled $33,500 worth of prescriptions for 10 different HIV medications. But there's no record that she had HIV or that she had visited the doctors who wrote the prescriptions.
• A 48-year-old in Miami went to 28 pharmacies to pick up HIV drugs worth nearly $200,000, almost 10 times what average patients get in a year. The prescriptions were supposedly written by 16 health providers.
• Two pharmacies in Miami dispensed drugs to 321 beneficiaries receiving more than $350,000 for the drugs dispensed; most of them were women with an average age of 74, two decades older than the typical patient who received HIV drugs in Medicare.

More Drugs Dropped by Express Scripts
Express Scripts, the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit manager, has announced it will remove an additional 25 products from its list of preferred drugs in 2015, including Epogen, Aranesp, Incivek, a testosterone gel, and extended release Zohydro.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/01/express-scr-amgen-anemia-idUSL2N0Q72VO20140801

Editor's Note:
[(More $$$ IN) minus (Less $ OUT) = $$$$$$$ for ESI Executives]
[(More $$$ IN) minus (Less $ OUT) = PAIN AND SUFFERING FOR PATIENTS!!!!]

Benzocaine and Over-the-counter Teething Meds for Infants
Public Citizen has petitioned the FDA to remove over-the-counter (OTC) medicines that are used to treat teething pain in infants and toddlers, citing a rare but potentially fatal adverse reaction. They also are asking the agency to issue warnings about the reaction on other OTC products that include benzocaine and that are intended for use by people of all ages.

Public Citizen contends that benzocaine was never demonstrated in clinical trials to be effective in relieving teething pain. They also go on to assert that there is "overwhelming evidence" benzocaine causes methemoglobinemia and infants under the age of 2 are particularly susceptible to developing this condition.
http://blogs.wsj.com/pharmalot/2014/07/31/fda-urged-to-remove-over-the-counter-teething-meds-for-infants/

FDA to Start Regulating Lab Tests?
The FDA has announced that it will soon start regulating medical laboratory testing, saying that tests used to make important treatment decisions must be vetted and validated before they go into use. The decision is fiercely opposed by some laboratories and pathologists, who have said that regulation by the agency is unnecessary and would significantly increase the cost and time needed to develop tests, stifling innovation and depriving patients of some vital tools.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/business/fda-to-regulate-lab-developed-test-kits.html?_r=0

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Did You Know ...

�that Noah Webster, often called the "Schoolmaster to America" and the first to write an American dictionary (used in the Editorial above) of the English language, said:

"The Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children under a free government ought to be instructed. No truth is more evident than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people."

Tip of the Week

Find out what is being taught, what is not being taught, and the misrepresentations being taught in our public schools and universities. You may be surprised!

Looking Back

Hello druggist!
I don't mean maybe!
Yes, Sir!
That's the baby!
     Burma Shave