Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 - (Page 6) 6 DRUG TOPICS AUGUST 25, 2008 www.drugtopics.com > > >NEWS Roundup Government and Law Investigators nail two physicians in rogue Internet pharmacy Two physicians who took part in an Internet pharmacy that distributed controlled and noncontrolled drugs to patients without requiring a valid prescription are facing sentencing. Chandresh Shah, MD, of Smyrna, Ga., and Gerald Morris, MD, Houston, who with other defendants operated an online pharmacy known as Affpower, could face a maximum of five years in prison and $250,000 fines. “The public deserves to deal with physicians and pharmacists who honestly and professionally work to guard people’s health,” U.S. Attorney Karen P. Hewitt, of the Southern District of California, said. The Medical Waste Machine reduces used sharps by 75 percent. The end product can then be thrown into a trash can. FDA taken to task for not releasing final sunscreen rules A group called the Cancer Prevention Coalition is charging that the Food and Drug Administration is asleep at the wheel on the dangers of sunscreens. A year after FDA proposed new regulations for more informative labeling of sunscreens, they are still not finalized yet. The coalition reported that in response to FDA's inaction, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal wrote to FDA on July 24 criticizing its failure to regulate the sunscreen industry. Following Blumenthal's letter, Senators Jack Reed (D, R.I.) and Christopher Dodd (D, Conn.) introduced the Sunscreen Labeling Act of 2008. This gives the FDA six more months to finalize comprehensive rules. Otherwise the Act would become law. The coalition believes that many sunscreens currently on the market carry misleading claims on their safety and effectiveness, thus posing a danger to consumers. It wants final rules from the agency to regulate the industry. dent David Freedman, the service ensures that pharmacists will see repeat business from patients who must bring in their filled containers of sharps and exchange them for empty ones. It is also more cost-effective than having the waste hauled away. Pharmacists held in high esteem Pharmacists are tickled pink over a guest commentary published in the July 16 Forest Hills Journal, a newspaper in the Cincinnati area. Written by Father Lou Guntzelman, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, the article is titled, “Why we dislike politicians and like pharmacists.” The author lists three reasons why pharmacists are held in high esteem, beating out politicians and even the clergy: They are accessible, truthful, and they have the interests of patients at heart. “Will the day come when politicians are revered as much as pharmacists? Hopefully!” concluded the author. Rx Care CDC issues recommendations for new flu season New recommendations on the prevention and control of influenza have been released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The 2008 recommendations update those from 2007 and include several changes. For instance, ACIP is now calling for all children between 5 and 18 years to be vaccinated annually beginning in the 2008-09 influenza season, if feasible, and no later than the 2009-10 season. The committee also recommends that either trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine or live, attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) be used for vaccinating healthy persons aged 2 through 49 years. (The previous recommendation was to administer LAIV to those 5 to 49 years.) Professional Practice Sharps disposal: New business opportunity for pharmacy As more states are passing laws that prohibit the disposal of sharps (syringes, needles, lancets, etc.) in household garbage, patients who have to inject themselves regularly, such as many diabetics, need a way to get rid of their medical waste. Enter the Medical Waste Machine from Medical Innovations, Framingham, Mass. Available to pharmacies at $187 per unit, the machine allows pharmacists to accept disposable sharps from consumers and convert them into compact waste that can be then thrown in the trash bin. According to company presi- http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.usdoj.gov http://www.usdoj.gov http://drugtopics.modernmedicine.com/drugtopics/Drug Topics Daily News/FDA-taken-to-task-for-not-releasing-its-final-suns/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/534927?contextCategoryId=10239 http://www.cdc.gov/flu http://www.medicalinnovationsinc.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 Are N-acetylcysteine (NAC) Capsules Available? Largest Generics Firm Teva Gets Even Larger Latest News Roundup Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 - Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 (Page 1) Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 - Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 (Page 2) Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 - Are N-acetylcysteine (NAC) Capsules Available? (Page 3) Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 - Are N-acetylcysteine (NAC) Capsules Available? (Page 4) Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 - Largest Generics Firm Teva Gets Even Larger (Page 5) Drug Topics - August 25, 2008 - Latest News Roundup (Page 6)
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