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News
Not Guilty Plea Entered by NECC Pharmacist
A pharmacist who worked for NECC, the company that killed 64 people, pleaded not guilty to the first criminal charges filed in the case. Glenn Adam Chin, 46, said in U.S. District Court in Boston that he was "not guilty" of charges he knowingly shipped a tainted steroid that sickened 700 people in 20 states. Chin faces one criminal count, mail fraud, though his attorney, Stephen Weymouth, said he suspected additional charges would follow. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Last July, a federal bankruptcy court approved a deal to settle scores of lawsuits against NECC, which could pay out as much as $100 million to victims and their families and creditors.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/11/us-usa-health-meningitis-idUSKBN0H614220140911
Another New Pharmacy School
William Carey University (WCU) in Mississippi is trying to raise $4 million for upfront costs for a new pharmacy school. University officials said that a new pharmacy school in the region is needed to meet the demand for pharmacists and for area students looking to study pharmacy.
http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/new-pharmacy-school-eyed-mississippi
Joblessness Crisis Ahead for Pharmacy?
An overestimation of future pharmacist jobs along with too many pharmacy schools will lead to a joblessness crisis for new pharmacy students, predicts a recent report in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.
"The PharmD degree was a popular change, generating a seemingly inexhaustible supply of applicants to colleges and schools of pharmacy. Higher education viewed pharmacy as a golden goose," the report said. "But no goose harbors an infinite supply of golden eggs, and the inordinate rate of academic growth that ensued has put the academy at risk, along with its students," the report said.
"In 2000, there were 80 colleges and schools of pharmacy in the U.S. Since then, 48 new programs have been established and 2 schools combined into 1 college, bringing the total to 127 accredited colleges and schools as of fall 2012-a 60% increase from 2000," the report said. It continued: "By 2016, when the graduates of these colleges and schools are included in the count and when the recent expansion of existing programs has taken effect, the number of PharmD graduates will range between 14,000 and 15,000 per year, more than double the number in 2001."
http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drug-topics/news/do-new-pharmacists-face-joblessness-crisis
New Antiseptic Standards Almost Nixed Ethanol, Isopropyl Alcohol, and Iodine
An FDA advisory committee strongly supported the FDA's proposed new minimum safety data standards for antiseptics used by healthcare providers but stopped short of going along with recategorizing 3 highly common topical antiseptics. The latter action would remove alcohol (ethanol), isopropyl alcohol, and iodine from the category of generally recognized as safe (GRAS; category 1) and put them in category 3 (insufficient data to classify).
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/831149?src=rss
Drug Rationing is Here
Baxter International Inc., the nation's leading supplier of the home dialysis solution, says it can't keep up with demand and is now rationing the product. They have directed physicians to limit the number of new patients, and they have been reducing the size of shipments sent to existing customers.
Baxter is blaming the shortage on an unexpected increase in demand stating that the number of U.S. patients using dialysis solution increased 15% in the second quarter compared with a year earlier and that demand for the product "has never been stronger." This and many other shortages (e.g., saline solution) are often caused by manufacturers experiencing product quality problems. Baxter has reported that the dialysis solution shortage may continue until early next year.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dialysis-shortage-20140913-story.html
New Study Shows Avastin Equivalent to Lucentis
An analysis of nine clinical trials concluded that health policies favoring the much more expensive eye drug Lucentis over Avastin were not supported by current evidence. This study was published in The Cochrane Library journal, which is produced by the Cochrane Collaboration, a non-profit group that reviews trial data to assess the value of drugs.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/14/health-eye-roche-novartis-idUSL5N0RD3P220140914?rpc=401
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