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A&P is seeking approval to sell pharmacy assets for several of the stores it is immediately closing to Rite Aid in a transaction valued at $8.1 million, Rite Aid has agreed to buy the prescription files for 12 stores that are closing…"When a pharmacy is closing, the value of pharmacy related assets, particularly customer prescriptions, is unstable and the transactions must occur on an accelerated timeline to avoid permanent and significant diminution of value,"

...when medical care providers aren’t forced to accept bundled payments…that could cost them money if the care isn’t better and costs aren’t in check, they are willing to embrace such new reimbursement…about 9% of U.S. acute care hospitals and 7% of skilled nursing facilities are voluntarily assuming financial risk by participating in the latest phase of the… Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative…This means these providers have agreed — long before it’s mandated — to take on financial risk that they can provide the necessary quality medical care for one bundled fee, grouping all of the services involved in an episode.

As the 10th anniversary of Hurrican Katrina approaches, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are making a commitment to disaster relief efforts… the two organizations would be donating $25 million over five years to worldwide disaster relief and recovery efforts… We will continue to help communities prepare for - and recover from - the unexpected…

A hydrogel is a polymeric material capable of holding large amounts of water in its 3-D structural network. Because it acts as the gel equivalent of a sponge, hydrogels are ideal for delivering different kinds of drugs and performing necessary functions. This week, hydrogels have shown to be useful in treating inflammatory bowel problems...

Italian Ministry of Health has banned compounding pharmacies from preparing drugs containing any of seven APIs after chemists were discovered making dangerous off-label weight loss treatments....ban, backed by the Italian Drug Agency, comes after some compounding pharmacies created unregistered slimming drugs from combinations of APIs not intended for weight control.

• TRIAC/tiratricol 
• fluoxetine and bupropion
• clorazepate
• furosemide
• metformin
• topiramate

PharmTalk is a special production from the University of Arizona, College of Pharmacy that features Keith and Kevin Boesen.

Yes, we know the doctors are usually the stars in the hospital emergency room. And the pharmacist with special training in emergency medicine makes a big contribution too!

Brookshire Grocery announced this week that it would be equipping its pharmacies with Fillmaster Plus dispensing technology…feature FlavoRx medication flavoring….using FillPure’s water purification system for all water used in antibiotics and powdered suspension,...The machines make pharmaceutical reconstitution and flavoring easy while reducing dispensing errors…

The approval of Sprout Pharma’s Addyi (flibanserin) is emerging as one of the most significant biopharma stories of 2015. Addyi has managed to touch a collective nerve that speaks to the pent-up demand for a women’s libido-enhancing drug, but also our societal anxiety about female sexuality in general. Those issues notwithstanding, some experienced biopharma marketers predict robust uptake in a fairly short period of time..

• The pros and the cons
• Are women willing to give up alcohol?
• Why Addyi is not Viagra
• Let’s talk about sex
• A good month for sexual satisfaction
• Addyi could open the doors to better MD-patient communication
• The challenge for marketers
• Reframing sexuality

Food and Drug Administration hasn’t approved ketamine for the treatment of mood disorders, but… studies show that it can quickly alleviate severe depression. There’s no regulation to stop doctors like Brooks from administering ketamine for nonapproved uses—a practice known as "off-label" treatment—"For patients who are suicidal…they can get relief within an hour or two,"…

Jessica Kerr, PharmD, CDE, and assistant department chair at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville discusses medication errors involving insulin. (video)