CVS

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — "Dispense-as-written" prescriptions are exacerbating medication nonadherence and costing the U.S. healthcare system billions of dollars, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and CVS Caremark.

BOSTON — Boston Medical Center announced that it has received a $50,000 grant for the Autism Clinic from CVS Caremark Charitable Trust, the private foundation created by CVS Caremark.

BMC is one of 72 organizations selected from a pool of 660 applicants to receive an individual or multiyear grant for 2010. The grant will allow the Autism Clinic to develop a written behavioral curriculum for hands-on training for parents with low income and/or limited-English proficiency.

NEW YORK — Bainbridge & Knight's Lichi Super Fruit Diet supplement has made its way to CVS/pharmacy.

The company said its new distribution deal signals major growth for the product, which will be rolled out in all of CVS' 7,000-plus locations.

Currently sold at Rite Aid, GNC, Duane Reade, A&P, ShopRite, Weis Markets, Harmon, Pathmark, Kings Supermarket and Circle K, as well as on Walgreens.com, for $29.99, Lichi Super Fruit Diet comes with 90 soft gels in a bottle for a 30-day supply.

MELVILLE, N.Y. — Alba Botanica, whose products are available at CVS, Target, Whole Foods and natural food stores, has revamped its Advanced line, which now is known as Natural Even Advanced.

The enhanced collection boasts eight reformulated and repackaged skin care products that target uneven pigmentation to improve the appearance of skin's clarity and tone for radiant-looking skin.

NEW YORK — Hitting select mass retail locations in April is the new FX Wild Harvest Hydra Silk collection, which contains a blend of natural, wild ingredients harvested from different regions of the world to make hair shiny, thicker and fuller.

The new FX Wild Harvest Hydra Silk collection includes:

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust has announced the donation of $100,000 to the American Red Cross in support of relief efforts under way in Japan following last week's tragic earthquake and tsunami, with a potential total donation of up to $300,000 through the matching of CVS Caremark employee donations.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — A lot was made of Walgreens' sale of its pharmacy benefit management business to focus on its stores and the other parts of its business, with some analysts and pundits suggesting CVS should or might soon follow suit. Whether or not CVS Caremark decides to do the same remains to be seen, but it certainly isn't the foregone conclusion some have suggested it might be.

WOONSOCKET, R.I., and WASHINGTON —  Patients that participated in a prescription discount card program created by the National Association of Counties saved more than $107 million on their medications in 2010, a new survey released by CVS Caremark and NACo found.

What's more, CVS Caremark and NACo noted, the average discount per prescription was about 24%.