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Editorial: Looking Forward 2012, Part V

Marketing Support for YOU and Drug Shortages: IJPC's RxTriad

In today's business world, your patients/customers/clients etc. must know who you are and the services/products you provide. Back in college, on the first day of class, our marketing professor said "Marketing is creating a need and then fulfilling that need."

Compounding pharmacists have an incredible opportunity today to fill a need that has already been created by the drug shortage situation. The problem is, many physicians are not aware of what drugs are in short supply and what their options are. IJPC's current issue of the RxTriad presents the current situation, causes, and solutions, as well as a list of all current drugs in short supply. It will be sure to generate a number of calls to your pharmacy.

This next edition of the RxTriad informs the physicians that YOU can fill the need for drugs in short supply. For those that are not aware, the RxTriad is a legal size, two-sided, full-color, glossy, folded, and ready-to-mail/distribute mailout on various topics. IJPC now produces about six of these per year. The content is primarily aimed at physicians (but a handout for your patients could also provide information of interest that they could discuss with their physicians) and has the goal of increasing your compounding business.

The mailout can be printed with your return address on it and all that needs to be done is to simply apply labels to the physicians to whom you wish it mailed. They are available in packets of 100 each. Current RxTriad subscribers have already received information on this next issue.

For NEW RxTriad Customers-if interested in copies of the latest RxTriad�view RxTriad information at http://www.ijpc.com/RxTriad/pricing.cfm

1. Fill out order form at http://www.ijpc.com/RxTriad/RxTriad%20Application.pdf
2. Set up and approve panel with your pharmacy information
3. You will then be faxed an abstract of the current RxTriad and an order form
4. Return faxed order form before deadline listed
5. Receive RxTriad's within 7 to 10 days

Questions should be e-mailed to Deb at dmehlhaff@ijpc.com or call Deb at 800-757-4572 or 405-330-0094, extension 1


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

Job Cuts at AstraZeneca Show Problems Facing the Pharmaceutical Industry
Slashing costs to keep investors happy, pricing pressures, generic rivals, and falling returns on drug discovery are part of the current situation. AstraZeneca has announced 7,300 additional job cuts over the next two years. AstraZeneca has been adding positions mostly in Asia, but its overall workforce is still shrinking.

Sales were down 2% and core operating profits fell 4% to $13.2 billion in the past year and there may be a worse situation developing as generics arrive competing with the anti-cholesterol drug Crestor. AstraZeneca is in the same boat as most of its competitors where they need new drugs to ensure long-term prosperity. However, drug discovery is becoming less certain, with returns on capital lower than in the past.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2012/feb/02/astrazeneca-job-losses-pharmaceutical-industry

Study Shows that FDA Drug Warnings are Often Ineffective
A 20-year review finds that the FDA's communications to physicians and patients about the newly discovered dangers of approved medications often miss the mark. Researchers examined cases from the 1990 to 2010 time period in which the FDA added warnings to labels, issued public health advisories, or wrote letters to physicians and other prescribers to inform them of unanticipated drug risks. However, these actions often did not achieve their aim or resulted in unintended consequences, said the review published online in January in the journal Medical Care.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/01/30/prsb0130.htm

Cardinal and Two CVS Pharmacies Charged in DEA Crackdown
Federal authorities have expanded their crackdown on painkiller abuse, charging Cardinal and two CVS pharmacies in Florida with violating their licenses to sell powerful analgesics and other drugs. The DEA suspended Cardinal Health's controlled substances licenses for the third time in five years.

The DEA linked Cardinal Health to unusually high shipments of controlled drugs to four pharmacies. On Friday, the DEA suspended Cardinal's controlled substances license at its Lakeland, Florida distribution center, which services 2,500 pharmacies in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

A federal judge temporarily halted the suspension the same day after Cardinal, a $1.3 billion company, announced it would stop supplying the drugs to the four pharmacies. Judge Amy Berman Jackson, of U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said it was likely CVS would be able to show that the DEA failed to establish the "imminent danger to public health" necessary to suspend the pharmacies' registrations.

The DEA raided two CVS pharmacies in Sanford, Florida, suspending their licenses to dispense controlled substances. CVS said it had taken steps with DEA's knowledge to stop filling prescriptions from doctors thought to be prescribing improperly. "We informed a small number of Florida physicians that CVS/pharmacy will no longer fill the prescriptions they write for Schedule II narcotics," spokeswoman Carolyn Castel said in a written statement. "Distributions of oxycodone to the two Florida stores have decreased by approximately 80% in the last three months compared to the prior three months—we believe in large part due to our action."

Cardinal has called the DEA action a "drastic overreaction" that would disrupt delivery of critical medications to hospitals and pharmacies. Cardinal has "extensive processes" to prevent diversion of its pharmaceuticals for illegitimate use, Barrett said. Cardinal's internal controls have flagged more than 160 pharmacies in Florida and 350 pharmacies nationwide for "suspicious order patterns." Barrett stated the DEA is holding the company responsible for a part of the supply chain it does not control.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/story/2012-02-03/Cardinal-Health-DEA/52951458/1
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/08/cvs-dea-idUSL2E8D801V20120208

UK's NICE Tasked with Reviewing Local Formularies in the NHS
Local English formularies provide a list of selected or preferred drugs available to local prescribers. However, there is currently no standard process or advice for putting these different local lists together for comparison, etc. NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) said that some local formularies were duplicating its own assessments, whereas others disagreed with theirs. The watchdog said this was acting as a barrier to the uptake of medicines that it had deemed cost effective for England. NICE has announced that it will produce a best-practice guide on how to develop a local formulary.
http://www.inpharm.com/news/171234/nice-review-local-formularies

�that many business start-ups linger for a while and close up because very few customers know they are there, and/or the customers don't know what services/products they offer? Just think about the businesses you support. If you didn't know about them, would you support them? Marketing is important!

Opportunity
The window of opportunity comes, lingers, and goes away. Drug shortages are here and are lingering but no one knows how long they will last, and we now have the opportunity to be of service to patients, physicians, hospitals, clinics, etc.

No matter the price,
No matter how new,
The best safety device
In the car is you!
      Burma Shave