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Abbott Healthcare is challenging an Indian state's accusation that a sample of the company's cough syrup contained excessive levels of codeine,...the laboratory found that a sample of Phensedyl contained more than twice the labeled amount of codeine,..Abbott denied the allegations and urged regulators to not take any action. Abbott said it had found nothing unusual in its own and third party testing of a retained sample from the same batch of Phensedyl....also asked regulators to give it more information about the source of the suspect sample and the manner in which it was collected, so that it could establish whether it was genuine and proper process was followed.

A hard drumbeat of FDA complaints against more than two dozen companies in India for quality violations has affected 39 drugmaking facilities, creating an avalanche of remedial work that could take years and is steadily driving up medicine costs in the United States…FT (Financial Times) said it counted 6 Indian drugmakers that had manufacturing sites hauled up by the FDA…encompassing 27 companies…spate of massive product recalls.

Kristene Diggins, MBA, manager of professional practice at MinuteClinic, and Contemporary Clinic Editorial Board member, talks about some dynamic trends in diabetes management.

California’s pharmacists would be required to provide prescription drug labels or medication instructions in five languages besides English under a bill passed unanimously…by California lawmakers…AB 1073, will be sent to Gov…Brown for his signature…Upon request from patients or their caregivers, pharmacists would need to provide medication instructions in Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese or Korean, the most common languages in California after English. The instructions could be on prescription labels or in patient handouts...

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia,… has issued a position statement recognising that complementary medicines may have a role in the management or treatment of some conditions and that pharmacists are ideally placed to help consumers make informed decisions on their use…. complementary medicines may be used as an adjunctive therapy with conventional medicines, provided there is evidence to support their use…. PSA strongly encourages all consumers considering taking complementary medicines to first consult their pharmacist for sound, evidence-based advice."… PSA does not support the sale of homeopathy products in pharmacy.

Smith's stores will hold open interviews Tuesday, September 15, for all veterans and their family members, looking to fill about 250 positions in its area stores (Reno). Nationwide, The Kroger Co. is hiring to fill an estimated 20,000 permanent positions in its supermarket divisions.

An analysis in Canadian Family Physician casts further doubt on the ability of marijuana to provide pain relief for patients with chronic noncancer pain. Yet,..in the same issue, Roger Ladouceur,...suggests that pain management specialists continue to prescribe it… While acknowledging that the clinical evidence in support of prescribing marijuana is limited, the editorial makes the case that physician involvement in prescribing it avoids a situation in which patients who say that the drug offers them relief are forced to get it wherever and however they can.

Novartis is using an oft-overlooked social network in the pharma world--Pinterest--for one of its campaigns… using the image-oriented site to set up malaria-fighting stories in graphic-novel form…The…Swiss drugmaker designed three boards on Pinterest, including

• "Mosquito Gauntlet"…odyssey of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, through a battery of ruthless technology,..chapter headings such as "The Smack-Down" and "The Puddle of Doom"…tells the story of recent efforts to combat malaria and also mentions Novartis' malaria pipeline at the end.
• "Mosquito Mayhem"…asking viewers to use the company's pins to "build your own mosquito misadventure,"..
• "M-Force Trading Cards"…illustrated trading cards with a "task force" of malaria-fighting superheroes….For example, "Agent Sparrow"

Paul Greenall, senior vice president of strategy and business development at McKesson Corporation, talks about how he sees the role of the pharmacist changing in the next few years.

Empathy is neither sympathy nor compassion,...It is also not feeling sorry for a patient…In medical interviewing, being empathic means listening to the total communication—words, feelings, and gestures—and letting the patient know that you are really hearing what he or she is saying,..Empathy can create better relationships with patients and lead to better therapeutic outcomes.

Here are 5 ways pharmacists can show empathy toward patients:

1. Show respect to receive respect.
2. Encourage patients to express themselves.
3. Put yourself in the patient’s shoes.
4. Recognize and address patients’ fears.
5. Use interchangeable and additive responses.