CVS

VAN NUYS, Calif. — JocottBrands, a developer and marketer of branded consumer products, is bringing the new Argan Magic hair care line exclusively to CVS/pharmacy.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark's retail-based clinic operator, MinuteClinic, is experiencing exponential gains in utilization and posted a 22% increase in acute visits during the past year, Larry Merlo, CVS Caremark president and COO, told investors Wednesday during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — While a majority of physicians are comfortable with generic medications, there is a small segment who still have negative perceptions about the effectiveness and quality of generic drugs, and that may lead to doctors prescribing unnecessarily expensive medications, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Marking its eighth consecutive year of dividend increases, CVS Caremark on Tuesday said its board of directors approved a near 43% increase of its quarterly dividend to 12.5 cents per share of common stock.

The dividend is payable Feb. 2 to holders of record on Jan. 21.

At its Analyst Day in October 2010, the company announced that it set a targeted dividend payout ratio of approximately 25% to 30% by 2015, which implied a compounded dividend growth rate of nearly 25% per year.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Despite an increase in flu activity, a recent CVS/pharmacy survey showed that 56% of respondents still had not received their flu shot, although 93% were aware that there already have been reported cases of the flu this season, the pharmacy retailer stated.

Flu activity steadily is increasing in the United States, with eight states now having reported widespread outbreaks of influenza cases, according CVS/pharmacy, which cited the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Bayer Diabetes’ Contour USB, pictured here at CVS, may be ideal for those tech-savvy boomers just learning they have diabetes. 

The monitor takes a blood-glucose reading at one end and can be inserted into the USB port of either a home computer or the laptop in the doctor’s office.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Patients with one or more out of four chronic diseases studied who take their medications as prescribed may save the healthcare system as much as $7,800 per patient annually, according to findings of a new CVS Caremark study analyzing annual pharmacy and medical costs over a three-year period.

LEBANON, Pa. — CVS has gotten the jump on what may become the craze for 2011 — e-tablets not called iPad.

About 80 tablets are to be featured at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show, according to a Washington Post report, as companies like Samsung, Toshiba and Motorola release their versions of the touch-screen wireless mini computer.