Author: Peter

The Compounding Expert Committee approved a new General Chapter, <800> Hazardous Drugs—Handling in Healthcare Settings. The purpose of this General Chapter is to provide standards to protect personnel, patients and the environment when handling hazardous drugs (HDs). The chapter applies to all healthcare personnel and all entities which handle HDs. Building on existing standards and guidelines, General Chapter <800> provides a comprehensive approach for handling HDs in healthcare settings with the ultimate goal of preventing and/or limiting potential exposures to HDs...The revised General Chapter <800> will be published on February 1, 2016 in the First Supplement to USP 39–NF 34. Additionally, the Expert Committee approved a delayed official implementation date of July 1, 2018 to allow entities more than two years to implement the chapter.

Which health care companies have traditionally been the most shareholder friendly? Turns out Pfizer…is one of them. But what about the rest of the sector?...Health care companies have been actively returning capital to shareholders over the past 10 years, but not all of its sub-industries were active participants. However, that may change, particularly as several biotech companies start to mature…"Biotech has been increasingly active in repurchasing shares during the past five years,"…."We expect these trends to continue in the next several years, and we anticipate that more biotech companies will engage in similar capital deployment activities in the future as their businesses mature and they begin generating steady cash flows. Although we do not anticipate biotech to overtake the pharmaceutical industry."…So which health care companies have led the way with the most returned capital to shareholders over the past 10 years? Here's the list..

1. Pfizer Inc.; Pharmaceuticals; YTD return: 3.3%; TRC 2005-2014: $127.37 billion
2. Johnson & Johnson; Pharmaceuticals; YTD return: -2%; TRC 2005-2014: $108.4 billion
3. Merck & Co. Inc.; Pharmaceuticals; YTD return: -4.7%; TRC 2005-2014: $68.1 billion
4. Amgen Inc.; Biotech; YTD return: 0.39%; TRC 2005-2014: $39.56 billion
5. United Health Group Inc.; Managed Health Care; YTD return: 11.7%; TRC 2005-2014: $36.27 billion
6. HCA Holdings Inc.; Health Care Facilities; YTD return: -8.1%; TRC 2005-2014: $33.54 billion
7. Abbott Laboratories; Health Care Equip ; YTD return: 2.2%; TRC 2005-2014: $33.16 billion
8. Anthem Inc.; Managed Health Care; YTD return: 4.5%; TRC 2005-2014: $33.11 billion
9. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.; Pharmaceuticals; YTD return: 14.9%; TRC 2005-2014: $27.6 billion
10. Medtronic Plc ; Health Care Equip ; YTD return: 4.7%; TRC 2005-2014: $24.4 billion

Bryan Ziegler, PharmD, executive director of Kennedy Pharmacy Innovation Center, gives some examples of sustainable business models that can expand the role of the pharmacist.

AstraZeneca and Sanofi announced a first-of-its-kind deal…to share more than 200,000 chemical compounds in an effort to speed up drug development. This is encouraging for a highly competitive industry, averse to sharing a piece of gum without a royalty fee tied to breath freshness, let alone compound libraries that were once prized possessions. No money will change hands. Each firm can develop molecules in the other's library with no future obligation…It's a good first step, and may even speed up drug development. Other competitors should follow suit, and hopefully think even bigger.

The battle over maintaining life support for a 20-year-old Las Vegas woman continues this week in Reno. It focuses on the question of when is a person considered dead…The unknown is whether doctors for Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center in Reno will continue to try to pull the plug on Aden Hailu, who sought treatment for abdominal pain in April and suffered catastrophic lack of oxygen and brain damage during an exploratory surgery…An attorney for Hailu's family said the next step must be to develop a plan of care…"There is hope that she will regain consciousness," said David O'Mara, the…attorney representing, Hailu's father…The state Supreme Court ruled last week that the standards used by the hospital to make a determination of brain death might not satisfy state law. Hailu was declared brain dead at the hospital May 28 after doctors concluded that she was unresponsive, lacked brain activity as determined by reflexes and eye movement, and could not breathe on her own.

CNBC's Eamon Javers reports on the White House and Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton's reaction to the Pfizer-Allergan deal.

The altMBA is all about change… it…made me aware of how slowly the profession of pharmacy evolves. Candidly, it moves at a glacial pace. We are slow, if not staunchly opposed, to change in pharmacy in many ways. I believe this resistance to change could be a detriment to the profession if we let it…When tackling change, we must start with ourselves...I want to share with you some ways you can manage and even promote positive change within the profession of pharmacy, and hopefully turn our professional...around into the 21st century…We desperately need more change agents in our profession...The world is just changing too quickly, and pharmacy as a profession must keep up with the pace of change…Here are a few ways to promote and embrace change:

• Dare to be the first.
• Stop waiting for permission.
• Choose yourself.
• Realize that not all ideas will stick.
• Realize a “no” today does not mean a “no” tomorrow
• Be a change champion.
• Celebrate failure.
• Just ship it.

Pharmacists must drive the positive change within the profession…We have a choice: either be the change, or wait for the change to happen to us via outside forces. Own it, or it will own you.

Hyderabad-based drug maker Dr Reddy's has filed a lawsuit in a US court against Anglo-Swedish drug giant AstraZeneca alleging material breach of a settlement agreement that had released the company from any liability in connection with generic versions of Nexium (esomeprazole)…Last week, AstraZeneca as part of a lawsuit against Dr Reddy's moved in a Delaware Court obtained a temporary restraining order preventing the Indian firm from selling copies of Nexium on grounds of trademark infringement for using the colour purple, which was similar to the original brand.

Ken Whittemore Jr, Surescript's senior vice president of professional and regulatory affairs, talks about some ways independent pharmacists could encourage local prescribers to adopt e-prescribing of controlled substances.

Donnie Calhoun, RPh, PD, National Community Pharmacists Association Foundation vice president, discusses how pharmacists can maintain business continuity during a natural disaster or other emergencies.