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Editorial: Pharmacy and the Olympics

Throughout the 2012 Olympic Games, there is likely to be an increased pressure on community pharmacies across England and in particular in the London area. The leadership is consistently promoting community pharmacy as the first port of call for minor health-related problems and medicine queries. They have put together a list of things for community pharmacies in London to consider:

• Will normal delivery routes be disrupted?
• Are employees able to come in?
• Will medication delivery be disrupted?
• What challenges to service delivery are possible?
• Is your pharmacy profile on NHS Choices up to date?
• Patients from abroad and from other parts of the country will be signposted to NHS.
• You may decide to remain open for longer hours if events are on in your area.
• Kindly work with your NHS Pharmacy commissioner on games time planning and services to ensure your planning is aligned with wider NHS planning.

Now that the events are underway, we can all enjoy them. However, we have been looking for the following little-known pharmacy Olympic events�but have not seen them yet.

• Fastest and most accurate and precise capsule filling!
• Synchronized smoothest ointment milling!
• Best tasting gummy bears!
• Best textured troches!
• Finest powders!
• Fastest counting 5's!
• Fastest ointment mill cleaner!
• Fastest to accurately weigh powders!
• Fastest to retrieve drug information from a computer!
• Fastest to complete third-party insurance forms!
• Fastest team to develop a neuropathic pain formula!
• Fastest to eat lunch or take a coffee break!
• Best at assigning beyond-use dates!
• Most comprehensive patient counseling team!
• Best at communicating while in a cleanroom!
• Fastest and most accurate at nutritional solution calculations!

Enjoy the games!


Loyd V. Allen, Jr., PhD, RPh
Editor-in-Chief

FDA Reports They Did Not Cause Shortages
Last month, the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform blasted the FDA for contributing to the ongoing shortage of prescription drugs. At the time, the agency denied a specific contention that overzealous enforcement was demonstrated in the number of warning letters issued in recent years. The agency has now responded in the form of a July 23 letter that was released to coincide with a hearing that the committee just held, and the FDA suggests the committee is misguided for blaming oversight that is designed to protect safety.

In its letter, FDA officials deny the agency is the "root cause" of prescription drug shortages and stated that more than half of shortages were related to manufacturing production problems and the remainder were caused by business decisions to discontinue certain products, difficulty obtaining raw materials, loss of manufacturing sites, increased demand, and component problems.
http://www.pharmalot.com/2012/07/fda-we-are-not-root-cause-of-shortages/

New Diet Drugs Approved
Two diet products just approved by the FDA, Qsymia and Belviq, won't be available for several months, but some doctors have been prescribing the ingredients of Qsymia for years. Qsymia is a combination of phentermine and topirimax that make the patient "feel full." The other, Belviq, works on brain receptors for serotonin, a neurotransmitter than triggers feelings of satisfaction. The new drugs are FDA approved for patients with a body mass index of 30 or higher, or with a BMI of 27 and high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, or sleep apnea. The drugs aren't covered by most insurance companies.

There is an interesting history of diet drugs as shown in the table below:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443931404577553413824697168.html?mod=ITP_personaljournal_0

Idaho's Bodybuilding.com Fined $7 million
A federal judge has fined two brothers and their Idaho-based online fitness supplement company millions of dollars for selling misbranded drugs; the company sold products listed as dietary supplements that actually contained synthetic anabolic steroids. Former company president, Jeremy DeLuca, was fined $600,000, and CEO Ryan DeLuca was fined $500,000 for several misdemeanor counts of selling misbranded drugs. The brothers were also placed on three years' probation. The company, Bodybuilding.com, was fined $7 million for violating the FDC Act and placed the company on four years' probation.
http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/Federal-judge-fines-Idahos-Bodybuildingcom-7-million-164661456.html

Benzocaine Teething Remedies Can Be Dangerous in Children
Benzocaine products to relieve teething pain in babies should only be used under the advice and supervision of a healthcare professional, the FDA says. The products involved include Anbesol, Orajel, Baby Orajel, Orabase, and Hurricane. These benzocaine gels and liquids to relieve gum and mouth pain can lead to methemoglobinemia; children under 2 years old are at particular risk for the condition.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2012/07/29/teething-baby-avoid--benzocaine-fda-says

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�that the IOC has had to adapt to the varying economic, political, and technological realities of the 20th century and have shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by IOC Founder Coubertin, to allow participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of the mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship and commercialization of the Games.

In the hot days of summer, inform your patients they should not leave their medications in their car!

The hobo lets his
Whiskers sprout.
It's trains-not girls
That he takes out!
      Burma Shave

PCAB is proud to announce the accreditation/re-accreditation of the following pharmacies:

Fallon Wellness Pharmacy, Latham, New York; Dr. Erika Fallon, PharmD, Supervising Pharmacist, erikafallon33@gmail.com: Reaccreditation for Sterile and Nonsterile Compounding

Foundation Care, Earth City, Missouri; Lindsay Wessels, Manager of Marketing and Regulatory, lindsay.wessels@foundcare.com: Reaccreditation for Sterile and Nonsterile Compounding

Scriptworks, Walnut Creek, California; Bob Brensel, RPh, Owner, scriptworks@sbcglobal.net: Initial Accreditation for Sterile and Nonsterile Compounding

Avella of Deer Valley, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona; Linda Cappellini, RPh, Director of Laboratory Services, lcappellini@theapothecaryshop.com: Reaccreditation for Sterile and Nonsterile Compounding

Avella of Scottsdale, Inc., Scottsdale, Arizona; Linda Cappellini, RPh, Director of Laboratory Services, lcappellini@theapothecaryshop.com: Reaccreditation for Sterile and Nonsterile Compounding

Join us in congratulating these pharmacies for this achievement!