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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services…issued guidance to all Medicare Part D plan sponsors regarding the Part D program's "any willing pharmacy" requirement…To comply with the AWP requirement,.. all…plans must have posted standard contracting terms and conditions… This new guidance should help reduce the likelihood of repeating the debacle of early 2015 that affected approximately 400,000 Medicare beneficiaries…

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

Some pharmacists specialize in understanding the drugs that help people with behavioral health issues. This time the team visits with a hospital-based pharmacist who works with psychiatric patients.

For the first time in history global pharmaceutical spending crossed the $1 trillion plateau in 2014. Think about that for a moment: $1 trillion equates to 1.3% of global GDP,… looking forward, global pharmaceutical spending is only expected to increase…spending could rise by 30% between 2014 and 2018 to $1.3 trillion… Why.. need to cover research and development and marketing costs…other reasons for rising prescription costs often fly under the radar… world's five most expensive drugs:

1. Glybera: $1.21 million
2. Soliris:　$700,000
3. Naglazyme:　$485,747
4. Vimizim: $380,000
5. Elaprase: $375,000

Logistic toxicity might be defined as the administrative burden of healthcare. Chores – like processing medical bills, holding on the phone for providers, filling out and submitting paperwork to insurers – can chew at a healthy person’s time, causing annoyance. For someone who’s chronically ill, these tasks and additional, long-term responsibilities – coordinating frequent medical appointments, and arranging for time off at work, and for childcare or caregiving of another adult – compound the physical and financial toll of disease.

..vast majority of patients wants continued access to OTC medications containing pseudoephedrine and opposes making the drugs prescription-only…This conclusion comes from an Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America survey of more than 2000 adults … who experienced cold, cough, flu, asthma, or allergies…71% of patients unfavorably view pharmacies and grocery stores that remove OTC medications containing PSE from their shelves..

An SEC filing reveals Merck has cut 29,160 jobs in five years, and over 2,500 more may be on the way….company’s restructuring programme began soon after Merck acquired Schering-Plough in late 2009. As well as tens of thousands of job cuts in sales,….. eliminated 1,950 jobs in the first half of 2015...

India and the European Union are taking steps to end a trade row sparked by an EU ban on Indian pharmaceutical products that New Delhi responded to by cancelling talks on a free trade accord with its largest trading partner,.. both sides are working to end the row,…European Union said…the India-made pharmaceuticals that drug makers can avoid the ban by submitting fresh test results...

Rupal Mansukhani, PharmD, clinical assistant professor at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers, talks about how pharmacists can play a bigger role in providing immunizations. (video)

Even as stakeholders await the imminent release of the final updates to Stage 3 meaningful use, there's still widespread interest in delaying it... Fueling that fire is… Medicare Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, will attempt to bring all existing quality measures under one umbrella – but no one knows exactly how… details on this is driving physicians and vendors alike into a state of deep concern…

An extra 1.2 million people have diabetes now than a decade ago, according to new figures – leading to a warning that its cost could "bankrupt the NHS" (National Health Service) ..The number of those living with the condition has soared by 59.8 per cent since 2005, meaning more than 3.3 million now have it… Prescriptions for diabetes now take up 10 per cent of GP (General Practioner) practices’ annual prescribing budget in England. A total of 47.2 million items were prescribed in the last financial year, at a cost of £860m.($1.34b)...