In the five years since he has led the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, president and CEO Steve Anderson has operated under a sound policy; so simple, it is the advice he gives his own children: “We don’t start any fights — but we sure are going to finish them.” On Monday, Anderson and NACDS chairman Bob Loeffler, who also serves as H-E-B chief administrative officer, told NACDS Regional Chain Conference attendees that now they are going to take that fight to the PBM lobby.

For all the fears about the patent cliff, at least one disease state seems to be on the up-and-up in terms of new drug development and new products.

Viewed through an Express Scripts lens, Walgreens' new hire announcement — naming Robyn Peters to group VP managed market sales — may appear timely. The drug store chain is approaching an aggressive marketing overture behind its entire lineup of healthcare proficiency during the first pharmacy benefit manager selling season that it is no longer part of the Express Scripts pharmacy network.

Mead Johnson Nutrition CEO Stephen Golsby on Thursday announced that the company will be deploying a significant ad campaign to recapture any lost trust among moms because of an Enfamil "pull-and-hold" in December.

Lower-limb amputation is a very real risk for many of the 25.8 million Americans living with diabetes. Though this study may be encouraging, the job of reducing the incidence of diabetes — and in particular, educating people about the need to watch their diets, take their medications and take care of their bodies — remains far from complete, as other recent stories in the media have revealed.

Clover Labs, based in Fairview, Tenn., last week announced a new delivery system format — peppermint-flavored gum — for an intimacy supplement presented at the ECRM Vitamin, Diet & Sports Nutrition EPPS conference.

CinSulin, based in Issaquah, Wash., is in the process of launching a cinnamon water extract to help maintain healthy blood-glucose levels for patients with prediabetes or Type 2 diabetes.

In its battle with Express Scripts, Walgreens is not only seeking to retain that prescription base payer by payer, but also patient by patient, as evidenced by the more than 500,000 customers who have taken advantage of Walgreens' Prescription Savings Club since Jan. 1, according to company officials.

As more of Walgreens' store base is transformed into its Wellness Experience format, the less it becomes an underdog in its hardline stance against Express Scripts.

The results of CVS Caremark’s study, which found that its Pharmacy Advisor program increased medication adherence rates and physician initiation of prescriptions, is important as it further underscores the benefits of the program, and those benefits are bound to becomes even greater as the retailer gears up for the next generation of the clinical program.

That one of the latest attempts to require prescriptions for cough-cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine appears headed for failure isn't just good news for the retailers that sell those products and the people who need them, it also may encourage those trying to curb the manufacture and use of methamphetamine to focus their efforts on methods that already work, such as the National Precursor Log Exchange, also known as NPLEx, a real-time, industry-funded electronic system that tracks sales of PSE products and is active in 17 states.