Department of Labor
www.osha.gov

Following our discussions of NIOSH, we will now begin a series on OSHA.

OSHA was created in 1970 as a national public health agency dedicated to the basic proposition that no worker should have to choose between their life and their job.

OSHA is committed to protecting workers from toxic chemicals and deadly safety hazards at work, ensuring that vulnerable workers in high-risk jobs have access to critical information and education about job hazards, and providing employers with vigorous compliance assistance to promote best practices that can save lives.

Under OSHA, employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their workers. We will begin our coverage of OSHA by looking first at their “Inspection Priorities.� The agency seeks to focus its inspection resources on the most hazardous workplaces in the following order of priority:

1. Imminent danger situations
2. Severe injuries and illnesses
3. Worker complaints
4. Referrals
5. Targeted inspections
6. Follow-up inspections

Next week, we will look at these priorities in more detail as we summarize the hundreds of pages of documents of which pharmacy is a relatively small part.

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

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News

Ohio Patients Losing Reasonable Access to Manufactured Prescriptions
Walgreens confirmed last week that the chain recently bought seven community pharmacies and then closed them about two weeks ago. The company closed another recently purchased store in Indianapolis. Walgreens moved customers’ prescriptions to its own stores. Walgreens hasn’t yet notified all customers after buying and closing seven Ohio pharmacies. Observers worry about disruptions for the state’s sickest, poorest residents. Pharmacy options for Ohioans — particularly those using the state’s largest Medicaid managed-care provider — continue to shrink.

It also comes after CVS, Ohio’s largest retail chain, bought 20 Ritzman pharmacies in northeast Ohio and closed all but three in January. Some patients have no choice but to drive out of town to get to a pharmacy.

"Considering that many Medicaid patients are extremely mobility-challenged and lack adequate transportation, the notion that they'd have to travel as much as 30 miles in the dead of winter to see a pharmacist is absurd," said Antonio Ciaccia of the Ohio Pharmacists Association.
https://www.dispatch.com/news/20191110/walgreens-buys-and-shuts-small-chain-shrinking-ohio-options

NOTE 1: This is the same issue we have been stressing for a few years now concerning patient access to important compounded medications. This story involves manufactured drugs and patient access in this and the following story.

NOTE 2: Regarding patient access to needed compounded medications, this has got to be addressed by the State Boards of Pharmacy regarding new standards that are too inflexible and causing some pharmacies to discontinue compounding, resulting in patients not having access to their needed medications!

CVS Closing 22 Drugstores Next Year in Addition to 46 It Closed This Year
CVS Health will close 22 “underperforming� drugstores early next year in addition to the 46 stores it shuttered earlier this year, the company said in a regulatory filing. The locations weren’t disclosed. “We believe these decisions will generate enhanced longer-term performance,� Chief Financial Officer Eva Boratto told analysts Wednesday on a call reviewing third-quarter results. “Our real estate footprint remained very productive, and we will look for opportunities to further improve the performance in our portfolio.� Walgreens earlier this year announced plans to close 200 stores.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/cvs-health-to-close-22-drugstores-next-year.html

Did You Know ...

...that George Washington said the following?

“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.�

Tip of the Week

It’s so sad what is going on in our nation’s capital where these activities may be setting a very dangerous precedent for our nation. So many lies, untruths, pretended patriotism for personal gain, egotism, and selfishness is apparent. The sad truth, however, is the number of citizens that are not keeping up with what is going on as they are too busy with “social media� to care! When they vote next year, will they really know “on what� and “for what� they are voting? And, just remember, their vote counts just as much as an informed citizen’s vote.

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Looking Back