Category:

A B.C. (British Columbia)-based pharmacy chain is itching to be the first in Canada to sell medical marijuana...London Drugs vice-president John Tse says that the pharmacy has already begun training to pharmacists to dispense marijuana as soon as regulations are in place. The federal government is expected to introduce legislation on both medical and recreational marijuana in the spring...London Drugs is only interested in the medical side – foresees a longer wait time than that before it comes to pharmacy shelves...After the legislation comes out there’s still the regulation…. and then there’s provincial governments and each of our colleges of pharmacists need to write regulations to operationalize it...We’ll be as fast as the laws allow… but it could happen overnight, we’re that ready…London Drugs will purchase marijuana only from federally licensed cannibis producers and that the pharmacy chain will only purchase if conditions are right...It’s not overly difficult to grow but what are the growing conditions like? Is there mold or pesticides… chemical compounds can be varied by different strains...They’ve already begun discussions with pot producers to lay the groundwork of setting up a supply chain...

Kelly Walsh, PTNN. This weekly video program provides our readers with an in-depth review of the latest news, product approvals, FDA rulings and more.

Despite evidence that certain drugs aren't always necessary, doctors are still prescribing these treatments, a new survey of doctors reveals...Antibiotics are by far the drugs most frequently used in situations where they'll provide no value for patients. The survey found that more than a quarter of doctors surveyed (27 percent) said that antibiotics are often administered to patients when the drugs will do no good...antibiotics are prescribed to treat upper respiratory infections even though these are most often caused by viruses unaffected by the medication…Other treatments that doctors use frequently despite their questionable value include aggressive treatments for terminally ill patients (9 percent), drugs prescribed for chronic pain (7 percent), and dietary supplements such fish oil and multivitamins (5 percent), the survey revealed...Physicians also might be practicing defensive medicine to ward off potential malpractice suits, or trying to meet clinical performance measures that call for blanket treatments that must be applied to all patients...

Ed Cohen, Executive Vice President Pharmacy Advocacy, Pharmacy Times,  This weekly video program highlights the latest in pharmacy news, product news, and more.

Sara Belanger, with The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network.

1. President-elect Donald Trump told Time magazine that he “doesn't like what's happened with drug prices” and that he plans to bring down the cost of prescription medications. Time named Trump its Person of the Year on Wednesday. (Time)
2. Mylan plans to lay off nearly 10% of its global workforce. A Mylan spokesperson said the job cuts are part of an efficiency strategy. (BioSpace)
3. Pfizer was fined $107 million for overcharging the U.K.'s health system for a generic epilepsy drug, phenytoin sodium. The country's antitrust regulator said that Pfizer deliberately unbranded the drug to skirt a competition law. Pfizer said it plans to appeal the ruling. (WSJ)
4. Celgene said its understanding of how its multiple myeloma drug Revlimid works in cancer patients is a boon for its R&D efforts in other diseases. The drugmaker currently has three drugs in its pipeline: CC-122 for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, CC-220 for lupus, and CC-90009 for acute myeloid leukemia. (Bloomberg)
5. ICYMI: GlaxoSmithKline said the CEO of ViiV healthcare, Dr. Dominique Limet, will step down and that Deborah Waterhouse, the company's SVP of primary care at GSK U.S. pharmaceuticals, will succeed him.  ViiV Healthcare is an HIV specialty company formed in 2009 by GSK and Pfizer.

...the McKesson Pharmacy Optimization team...has identified the top five trends that will impact hospital and health system pharmacies in 2017...McKesson's advisory team addressed these trends with health system pharmacy leaders at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting 2016...The role of the clinical pharmacist is rapidly expanding to stay ahead of the changing dynamics brought upon by healthcare reform...The expanding scope of pharmacists’ service and increasing clinical collaboration illustrate key trends and opportunities facing health system pharmacies in the coming year...here are the five trends McKesson's pharmacy optimization team identified:

• Continued Growth in Specialty Market
• Leveraging Pharmacy Analytics to Make Strategic Business Decisions
• Health System Pharmacy Seen as a Revenue and Margin Generator
• Centralizing Pharmacy Operations and Improving Clinical Services
• Future Directions for Reform and the Affordable Care Act

It’s crucial for pharmacists to be aware of medications associated with high risk for error and harm to patients, and to look for best ways to implement practices for improving safety and patient care...The Institute for Safe Medication Practices...Compiled data gathered from hospital medication error reports, risk assessments, consumer reports, and FDA collaboration...to name the top medication classes involved in adverse events...the top 5 high-alert medication classes based on data from 2016. Opioids, antithrombotics, and insulins topped the list, followed by antipsychotics and antibiotics...data pegged wrong dosage as the top reason for adverse events in most cases, except in the use of antibiotics, for which wrong drug was the top reason...

The proliferation of counterfeit medicines is nothing new to pharma; however, the scale of the problem seems to be escalating, especially with the Internet providing an easy means for fraudsters to dispense their fakes. Counterfeiting has a devastating impact on public health and the economy. Not only are consumers paying for products of inferior quality, but their well-being is also put at risk. For genuine drugmakers, profits are diluted, but the repercussions extend beyond that...The European Union Intellectual Property Office reported...that the pharmaceutical industry is stripped of approximately €10 billion of revenue every year because of counterfeit medicines; this figure accounts for 4.4% of the sector’s sales...the lost sales translate into 37,700 jobs lost across the pharmaceutical sector in the EU as a result of legitimate manufacturers and distributors employing fewer people than they would do had this problem not existed…With serialization and track-and trace legislations being rolled out over the next few years, pharma is doing its part to secure its supply chain. The problem will be an ongoing challenge for the industry, but with advances in technology, it will become easier to detect the fakes in the near future.

Sara Belanger with The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network