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Expanding interest in traditional Chinese medicine in the United States is fostering a potentially lucrative new niche market for farmers who plant the varieties of herbs, flowers and trees sought by practitioners...While almost all practitioners still rely on imports from China, dwindling wild stands there, as well as quality and safety concerns, could drive up demand for herbs grown in the U.S. Several states have set up "growing groups" to help farmers establish trial stands of the most popular plants....Traditional Chinese medicine is gaining mainstream acceptance in the U.S. There are 30,000 licensed practitioners across the country - 46 states issue licenses, often requiring a master's degree and continuing education credits. In 2014, the Cleveland Clinic opened one of the first hospital-based Chinese herbal therapy clinics in the country...If growers in the U.S. can produce a highest-quality product that is identical to species from China, without contamination from heavy metals or pesticides, I think it's a great opportunity for farmers...

Alexander Kantorovich, PharmD, BCPS, clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice at Chicago State University College of Pharmacy, discusses how closer integration of pharmacists into care teams improves outcomes for patients taking new oral anticoagulants.

They’re the new Brink’s trucks...Delivery vans that transport prescription painkillers from warehouses to pharmacies and hospitals are the targets of an escalating number of thefts across the country...Amid a nationwide epidemic of opioid addiction, the delivery vans have become an appealing and vulnerable target for thieves, addicts, and drug dealers...Hitting the right pharmaceutical courier can yield a payoff similar to robbing an armored car. But the pharmaceutical van drivers usually receive little security training, work alone, and rarely carry weapons...“We still have a segment of criminals that very much want to get their hands on those pills because they have high street value,”...“People are willing to go to extreme means to get those pills.”...Three wholesalers, with combined revenues of over $300 billion, dominate the US pharmaceutical market. All three declined to answer specific questions about how often couriers delivering their products are robbed, any security measures undertaken in recent years, and their reliance on independent contract drivers to deliver their goods...Cardinal Health said the company maintains “robust safety measures to ensure the safe distribution of products.”...McKesson Corporation said it would not answer questions for “security reasons.” AmerisourceBergen...did not provide responses to questions.

Reckitt Benckiser executives may need some of the company's own pain meds this week. First in Australia and now in the U.K., the drugmaker is being taken to task over misleading claims for its painkiller Nurofen...Australia, a judge ordered four "different" kinds of Nurofen pulled from store shelves. While each product has a different name targeting a different pain--Nurofen Back Pain, Nurofen Period Pain, Nurofen Migraine Pain and Nurofen Tension Headache--each had the exact same active ingredient and at the same strength, 342 mg of ibuprofen lysine...Meanwhile, in the U.K., Reckitt is under investigation for TV advertising for its Nurofen Express, charged with making inaccurate claims that "the product directly targets muscles in the head," and that it works more quickly than standard ibuprofen...This is not the first time Reckitt has been charged with making misleading Nurofen claims; in 2012, the Australian government ordered one of its TV ads withdrawn. The ad included the "misleading" claim that Nurofen "goes straight to the pain" together with "imagery of the medicine ascending from the neck to the head," according to the filed complaint.

• Why did you decide to pursue a managed care residency?
• What is the structure of your residency?
• What are your day-to-day tasks?
• How did you decide that your residency program was the right fit for you?
• What career opportunities does a pharmacy resident have after completing a managed care program?
• What advice do you have for students looking to pursue a residency in managed care?

Mike Glaicar, Business Development: Pharmacy Times...(PTNN) This weekly video program highlights the latest in pharmacy news, product news, and more. (video)

CMS plans to more closely track the use of opioids by adults and antipsychotics among children and adolescents with new quality measures for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program...The agency issued a notice this month outlining the new measures, which come amid a national epidemic of opioid abuse and a rising unease with the high rates of antipsychotic medications prescribed to minors for off-label uses...CMS will require Medicaid programs...to track the use of opioids at high dosages acquired from four or more providers and pharmacies by beneficiaries who don't have cancer...The measure is intended to indicate inappropriate prescribing or fragmented care...American Pharmacists Association said the new Medicaid measure could help identify patterns of opioid misuse...The CHIP measure, meanwhile, would track the percentage of children and adolescents who are on two or more antipsychotic medications at the same time...an analysis by HHS' Office of Inspector General found that 92% of antipsychotics taken by Medicaid children in five states were prescribed for off-label uses...The use of multiple antipsychotic medications “is seldom justified and is an appropriate focus for a quality measure,”...children on Medicaid are prescribed antipsychotics at much higher rates than privately insured children.

When it comes to historic changes in the U.S. health care system, few years could compete with 2014, but 2015 gave it a run for its money. With 2016 knocking at the door, it’s time to take a look back and round up the biggest health care events of the year.

• The health spending slowdown ends.
• Rx pricing lands in the spotlight.
• The insurance expansion presses on…
• …But the pay-fors take a hit.
• Consolidation reshapes the health care landscape.
• Collapse of the CO-OPs.
• Health care politics mellowing?
• Rates of hospital-acquired conditions remain low.
• Mortality is rising for white, middle-aged Americans.

Despite the year’s ups and downs, it’s clear that the insurance expansions continued to make a big impact in the lives of Americans in 2015. Here’s to a new year in which we continue to make coverage gains—and make inroads on issues such as drugs spending and broader economic inequality.

Pharmacists ranked No. 2 in Gallup's 2015 Honesty and Ethics of Professions Ratings, falling behind No. 1 ranked nurses and ahead of No. 3 ranked medical doctors...This annual Gallup survey presents another data point in the strong and growing case for pharmacy patient care...those who have more first-hand experience with pharmacist-provided services feel even more strongly about their value. These positive attitudes are translating into ever-stronger bipartisan support for pro-patient and pro-pharmacy initiatives in the U.S. Congress, as well as an expansion of the pharmacists’ scope of practice in the states.

Dear Santa,

I’m writing to you with my Christmas wish list. I realize that I am a little over the typical age limit for this activity, but I am pretty short so maybe I can still pass for a kid? I also know that, as a venture capitalist, I may automatically default to the "naughty list." But I am an eternal optimist and I’m hoping that the social value inherent in investing in healthcare instead of video games and drones can help me put a few points on the Santa board...Here’s to hoping that my wishes will be fulfilled, for what it’s worth, I will be listening for Rudolph et al on Christmas Eve, cookies at the ready. I make really good cookies. Here’s my list, in no particular order:

1. Great companies with rational valuations
2. A better IPO market for digital health companies
3. A parade of experienced, driven, humble entrepreneurs who can balance their tech and healthcare knowledge for good
4. A world where venture capitalists and entrepreneurs recognize that diversity is a plus–
5. A medical system that values the active role of the patient aka consumer
6. A better work environment for physicians, nurses and others who care for people
7. Recognition and reward for the unpaid and overwhelmed caregivers of our nation
8. An end to avoidable medical errors
9. A pony

Anyway, whatever your holiday of choice—Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Years Eve, Festivus or other—I hope yours is a great one and that you find love, relaxation and moments of joy before the new year revs up again...Happy Holidays everyone.