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Despite a significant body of evidence supporting pharmacist-provided services, gaps remaining in the evidence base need to be addressed to accelerate the adoption of pharmacy services into evolving health care delivery models. Understanding these gaps is important in targeting research efforts...we have reached a critical time in the evolution of pharmacy and pharmacist-provided services...we must carefully consider the research questions that are most relevant to advance pharmacy practice...As health care transitions toward value-based care, it is important that we demonstrate the role of the pharmacist as an integral member of the health care team in optimizing medication use and improving patient care. We need to rethink our...research and shift some of our efforts to the translation and implementation of research findings...Efforts to demonstrate that pharmacist-provided services work...should continue; however, we must place more emphasis on how to integrate best practices in pharmacy-provided services into value-based care delivery and payment models.

Pharmacist Joe Harmison has been burglarized...many times...It’s the price he pays for running a pharmacy as an opioid epidemic sweeps the United States...Pharmacists...are in an especially tough position, pulled between patients in dire need of relief and people addicted to opioids who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the drugs. More than 4 million Americans abuse prescription painkillers...pharmacists are increasingly, and controversially, called upon to play drug cop — to turn away abusers, to reject phony prescriptions, and to protect their inventory of pills from criminals who see pharmacies as an easy target...It’s a role that’s been given to us, and many pharmacists choose to embrace it, while others run as far away and as fast as they can...When I see someone trying to abuse the system, in my mind they’re standing in the way of patients who really need those drugs...They’re bastardizing the good work that pharmacists are trying to do...Though he’s frustrated by all the fraudulent prescriptions that come his way, Harmison sees the legitimate need for these powerful drugs every day...There are people who really need this drug, who do good just to get out of bed with their terminal illnesses...He’s comfortable as drug cop. But he also wants to continue to be the friendly neighborhood pharmacist of Grand Prairie...

A revised guideline from the American College of Chest Physicians favors the use of dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, or edoxaban over traditional vitamin K antagonist or low-molecular-weight heparin therapy for the long-term treatment of venous thromboembolism in patients without cancer..."Antithrombotic Therapy for VTE Disease," released online in December by the publishers of Chest, is the 10th published version of the guideline, which updates a guideline released in early 2012. In that version of the guideline, VKA or LMWH therapy was preferred over the two available "new oral anticoagulant drugs" for the long-term treatment of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis...

Martin "Pharma Bro" Shkreli’s testimony – or lack thereof – at a House Oversight Committee hearing justifiably angered many people...Overnight, he became the embodiment of a pharmaceutical industry routinely accused of putting profit-seeking before patient health...But policymakers shouldn’t jump to conclusions...There are many important differences between the "Pharma Nerds" developing innovative life-saving drugs – including Gilead Sciences’ Sovaldi – and the "Pharma Bros" exploiting loopholes to profit from generics like Daraprim...What’s the difference between daraprim and Sovaldi?...quite a bit...Sometimes, short term monopolies are good for markets and society..Patents encourage innovation in sectors where the upfront costs of developing a product are very high. Monopoly patents are designed to ensure that innovators that they can recoup these costs and earn a healthy profit before generic competitors enter the market...Monopoly patents – with all the implied pricing power – are necessary for producing innovative drugs...But generic drugs are not "innovative," although they are critical in maintaining a healthy and competitive pharmaceutical market…Daraprim is a generic, and generics shouldn’t – with some very narrow exceptions – benefit from the same monopoly protections that innovator drugs do...patents will continue to work well for most products, and governments should continue to prioritize strong IP to promote medical innovation...Lowering prices by fiat will just tell investors to take their dollars elsewhere.

...the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, a bipartisan collaborative meant to bridge the gap between federal agencies and private-sector leaders in the interest of protecting the nation's technology backbone, claims recent guidance from Food and Drug Administration for device makers falls way short...In practically all matters of cybersecurity within the health sector, the FDA seems to be in a constant state of offering subtle suggestions where regulatory enforcement is needed..."Assessing the FDA's Cybersecurity Guidelines for Medical Device Manufacturers: Why Subtle 'Suggestions' May Not Be Enough," knocks the agency for failing to implement enforceable regulations for manufacturers...It may be beneficial to healthcare providers, healthcare payers, and legislators to petition the FDA to make the guidelines regulatory. Otherwise, medical device manufacturers could ignore the guidelines altogether...

College students aiming for an academic edge may explain a surge in the misuse of a stimulant commonly prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder...Among U.S. adults, the number of Adderall prescriptions stayed stable from 2006 to 2011, but misuse of the drug jumped 67 percent and related visits to emergency rooms went up by 156 percent...The majority of adults who are using Adderall nonmedically are in the age range of 18 to 25...The researchers speculate that college students may prefer Adderall over the other stimulants because it increases two brain chemicals linked with better cognitive functioning and has a reputation for making people smarter...Many students mistakenly believe these drugs will make them smarter and more efficient at studying, so in their view the risk is worth the reward...because Adderall can improve focus, it may also give some students an unfair advantage, thus constituting academic dishonesty...

CVS Pharmacy, Inc. has agreed to pay $8 million to the United States to resolve allegations that its Maryland pharmacies violated the Controlled Substances Act by dispensing controlled substances pursuant to prescriptions that were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose...According to the settlement agreement, CVS acknowledged that between 2008 and 2012 certain CVS pharmacy stores in Maryland dispensed controlled substances, including oxycodone, fentanyl and hydrocodone, in a manner not fully consistent with their compliance obligations under the CSA and related regulations. This included failing to comply with a pharmacist’s liability to ensure the controlled substance prescriptions were issued for a legitimate medical purpose. This settlement caps off an investigation that began as part of the DEA’s crackdown on prescription drug abuse in Maryland..

David D'Altorio, PharmD, senior vice president of health services at MedImpact Healthcare Systems, discusses the benefits of MedImpact's iRx program.

As hackers hold Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center’s data and demand $3.4 million Bitcoin to give it back, experts say the "hostage situation" likely signals more ransomware attacks to come...There is no style to this attack...it was likely messaging-based, whether a malicious link in an email or perpetrated via a social network and, basically, an employee fell for it...Such attacks are particularly alluring to cybercriminals...because they are reasonably easy to pull off and have a big impact...the cybercriminals are demanding the hospital pay a $3.4 million ransom if they want their data back...In the meantime, executives declared the hospital in a state of emergency and employees are reverting to paper and faxes to communicate..."This incident really sheds light how weak the core of many providers' internal infrastructure is...It's very common for hospitals to have a large number of outdated and vulnerable systems on the network...

As low-cost generics come to dominate retail dispensing activity, clinics have emerged as a way for drugstores and other retail pharmacy outlets to diversify into non-dispensing revenues...There are now about 2,000 retail clinics. Below, I examine the chains with the biggest market share: CVS Health, HEB, Kroger, Rite Aid, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart...In 2015, the number of clinics grew slowly. In 2016, I project another year of slow growth as the big players retrench...

1. CVS Health’s MinuteClinic remains the largest and fastest-growing retail clinic business, now operating more than half of all retail clinics.
2. Walgreens is the second-largest retail clinic operator, with more than 400 Healthcare Clinics (formerly Take Care clinics). The number of clinics in Walgreens retail stores declined in 2015.
3. Kroger has emerged as the third-largest retail clinic operator with its Little Clinic business, which operates inside nearly 200 Kroger, Dillon’s, Fry's, JayC, and King Soopers stores.
4. Rite Aid changed its clinic strategy with the 2014 acquisition of RediClinic. As of January 2016, Rite Aid operated 41 RediClinics....a further 35 retail locations.. in HEB grocery stores...At 14 Rite Aid locations, the company leases space to other clinic operators...
5. Walmart launched its own Care Clinics in 2014. There are now 17 Care Clinics in Walmart stores...Walmart also leases space to independently owned and operated Clinic at Walmart operators...operate inside 73 Walmart stores.