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Once a pharmacy has attracted a solid base of patients, the next step is keeping them coming…pharmacies can maintain a loyal community of patients…patients are on autopilot, so their habits may lead them to the same pharmacy every time. However, other patients may have medications filled at multiple pharmacies, and some of them may be looking for a home base…Here are 5 tips to keep patients loyal to your pharmacy:

1. Let patients know what you do, and tell your story
2. Implement an adherence program
3. Investigate your pharmacy’s challenges
4. Know your market
5. Find your niche

Elias Cachine, PharmD, BCPS (AQ-10), discusses the factors that can potentially contribute to antimicrobial overuse in geriatric patients.

Starting today, all pharmacies in Greece will close for 24 hours due to a strike…The impact of closed pharmacies—including disruption to patients’ access to medications—may not be widely covered, as Greek journalists are preparing to cancel news broadcasts and online content today, as well…Public services, museums, and schools will also close, public transportation will be affected, and hospitals will function with emergency staff…Small regional airports will cancel flights, and ferries will stay in port.

Life can be hard. In fact, it can almost seem impossible for families devastated by substance abuse. However, there is hope and there are second chances…a family healing from the devastating effects of drugs, which is possible in part because of a volunteer who shines her love and support on this young family…The Senior's in Service program is seeking for more volunteers…families through drug court. "It's very rewarding. However, it can be very frustrating when you first get a client and they're angry and you get one that fails and that is very disappointing,"…If you are at least 55-years-old and would consider become a TruVista volunteer…

Report says small thefts may indicate syndicates are scoping out targets…Drugmakers have stepped up their game in recent years in protecting their supply chains against cargo theft. But thieves can be resourceful, and a big jump in losses in the third quarter indicates ways in which they have evolved their own techniques…In its Q3 report on U.S. cargo theft, FreightWatch International reported that while cargo thefts across all categories were down 18% and pharma thefts accounted for only 6% of total incidents, the numbers of cargo thefts in the drug industry increased a whopping 125% over the previous quarter and 350% over the same quarter a year ago…The industry continues to work with law enforcement to detect trends, and it has paid off with some arrests and convictions.

…Americans overdose and die after taking opioid painkillers...people abuse or misuse the drugs…addictions and deaths mount…authorities are struggling to cope…State lawmakers are introducing bills to restrict prescribing…Food and Drug Administration is pushing pharmaceutical companies to develop more tamper-resistant products…the most sweeping initiative comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has prepared preliminary prescribing guidelines for primary care physicians…call on doctors to prescribe opioids only after other therapies have failed…there is considerable opposition to the guidelines…critics…say the CDC guideline process was flawed and, as a result, some patients will be denied much-needed pain relief.

Carlos Aquino, founder and president of PharmaDiversion LLC, talks about his experience working undercover for the Philadelphia Drug Enforcement Administration task force.

A massive trade pact between 12 Pacific rim countries could limit the availability of affordable medicines, the head of the World Health Organization said…joining a heated debate on the impact of the deal…Margaret Chan told a conference there were “some very serious concerns” about the Trans-Pacific Partnership…trade policy which still needs to be ratified by member governments…“If these agreements open trade yet close the door to affordable medicines we have to ask the question: is this really progress at all,” Chan asked a conference in Geneva…The deal’s backers, including the United States, Canada, Japan and Australia, say it will cut trade barriers and set common standards across 40 percent of the world’s economy…But other bodies, including leaders of India’s $15 billion pharmaceuticals industry, have said it could end up protecting the patents of powerful drugs companies inside the deal area, at the expense of makers of cheaper generic drugs outside.

The differences between biotech and pharma have always been a bit arbitrary. They mostly amount to whether the company name has been around for a century or mere decades, and whether there's a "gen" or a "zyne" in there somewhere…One thing investors like about Amgen is its most pharma-like attribute: For years, it was the only biotech to pay a dividend…But the company now risks adapting one of Big Pharma's less-desirable habits: expensive buyouts that risk large chunks of capital and investor goodwill…Amgen would be the latest in a trend of biotechs becoming buyers instead of…targets…Everyone's chasing the same shiny object…The road to every blockbuster drug is a minefield…Amgen's fear of missing out is understandable. But the very fastest way to derail a good thing is through big, bad acquisition. If Amgen wants to keep swinging $10 billion bats, it can't afford to miss.

A local pharmacy owner says the Affordable Care Act is putting him out of business. After nearly 20 years in operation, Mike's Pharmacy in Carson City will close its doors for good on Wednesday, November 11, 2015…Mike's Pharmacy opened in Carson City in 1997 and has been a community institution ever since…"It is very hard to lose this business because of circumstances I had no control of," said Mike Hautekeet, owner of Mike’s Pharmacy…He says the trouble started with the implementation of Obamacare. It wasn't the employer obligation; his employees already had insurance. Instead Hautekeet says Obamacare changed the way pharmacies are reimbursed by insurance companies…"If my cost is too high, and they reimburse me not enough, a lot of times we lose money to fill the prescription," said Hautekeet.