The programming and events at the NCPA meeting last week (October 7-11, 2006), in Las Vegas, Nevada, were outstanding.

Programs related to compounding included the following:

• "Opportunities in Compounding Pharmacy" - Now, more than ever, the key to success in owning your own pharmacy is diversifying your business. A fun and rewarding way to do that is by including compounding services. This session showed some of the opportunities available in compounding pharmacy and how to make compounding part of your future business.
• "Caring for Your Patients - The Compounding Pharmacist"
• "The Expanding World of Electronic Prescribing"
• "Managing the Care of Your Pain Patients: A Team Approach to Better Patient Care"
• "Long-Term Care"
• "Diabetes"
• "Vaccinations and Immunizations for Adults Niche in Community Pharmacy"

One of the highlights of the meeting was the special program by Mary Matalin and James Carville, a husband and wife political team (from opposite parties). It was such a powerful program that the fire alarms went off for about 10 minutes. After the excitement, they continued their presentation.

Another highlight of the program was when David Sparks of Professional Compounding Centers of America (PCCA) was announced as the recipient of the John W. Dargavel Medal. Congratulations Dave!


Loyd V. Allen, Jr., Ph.D., R.Ph
Editor-in-Chief

Are you working with patients and physicians on controlling chronic and/or acute pain? IJPC's Map of the Human Dermatomes can help! This full-color 8 1/2" x 11" laminated map of the human dermatomes is a great educational tool to use when treating pain.

Dermatome distribution patterns are relatively consistent from person-to-person, with nerve fibers in certain areas of the skin originating from specific spinal nerves. Using the map helps pinpoint the origin of pain and results in better treatment outcomes.

Claims Group Updates Pharmacist Taxonomy
Pharmacists specializing in the practice of oncology or geriatrics pharmacy can soon declare that expertise in electronic health care claims. See the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists news page for details.

Based on the number of discussions on the Compounders' Network List concerning the treatment of warts and molluscum contagiosum, we have added 79 articles on our CompoundingToday.com's literature search database this week. Here is a sampling of them:

Topical treatment of venereal warts: A comparative open study of podophyllotoxin cream versus solution.
Claesson U, Lassus A, Happonen H et al. Int J STD AIDS 1996; 7(6): 429-434.

Topical immunomodulators for the treatment of external genital warts, cutaneous warts and molluscum contagiosum.
Hengge UR, Cusini M. Br J Dermatol 2003; 149(Suppl 66): 15-19.

Contact immunotherapy with squaric acid dibutylester for the treatment of recalcitrant warts.
Lee AN, Mallory SB. J Am Acad Dermatol 1999; 41(4): 595-599.

Topical 5% 5-fluorouracil cream in the treatment of plantar warts: A prospective, randomized, and controlled clinical study.
Salk RS, Grogan KA, Chang TJ. J Drugs Dermatol 2006; 5(5): 418-424.

Topical cidofovir for the treatment of dermatologic conditions: Verruca, condyloma, intraepithelial neoplasia, herpes simplex and its potential use in smallpox.
Toro JR, Sanchez S, Turiansky G et al. Dermatol Clin 2003; 21(2): 301-309

IJPC realizes the importance of stability and compatibility studies. For this reason, we publish at least two peer-reviewed articles in each issue of our journal. The titles of the two peer-reviewed articles in our September/October 2006 issue are: (1) In Vitro Transdermal Diffusion of Zileuton from a Topical Gel and (2) Temozolomide Stability in Extemporaneously Compounded Oral Suspensions. If you are not a subscriber, you can purchase and download the articles using the links to the web site.

Sign up today at www.IJPC.com and start your journal print and electronic subscriptions. You can download what you are currently subscribed to and purchase electronic access to our complete set of back issues.

Velcro is still sticking around!
Need to stick something onto your counter back wall, drawer, inside a cabinet, etc? Use Velcro. It can be purchased at most hardware stores and comes with both strips in parallel. All that is needed is to cut the desired length. Then, place the parts on top of each other (so they stick together), then, remove the adhesive on one side of the item you want to stick up. Remove the adhesive from the other side and then place it onto the wall or in the desired location. It should stay in place. It can also be removed and placed in another location when the need arises.