INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — If the rumors that surfaced last week about Walmart eyeing Rite Aid for a possible buyout turn out to be true, it would be one of the biggest stories of the year: Walmart would acquire the country’s third-largest drug store chain and more than double its U.S. store count.

(THE NEWS: Report: Walmart may be eyeing Rite Aid. For the full story, click here)

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — In his July 20 letter to benefit consultants, Walgreens president of pharmacy, health and wellness Kermit Crawford made a direct appeal to plan sponsors to either “select a PBM that includes Walgreens” or consider “direct arrangements with plans currently using Express Scripts, to the extent permitted by their contracts.” The letter also included an attached “template agreement that can be used to implement such direct arrangements where permitted,” for consideration.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — While Walgreens is not alone in its pledge to serve up food oasis stores across urban deserts peppered by supersize-me fast food joints and convenience stores, the Chicago-based chain certainly has made the greatest commitment. In addition, Walgreens is serving up some pretty extensive access to health care along with their focus on “fresh.”

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Children with Type 1 diabetes may achieve better blood-sugar control if their parents are more authoritative with them, a new study has found.

NEW YORK — A drug designed to boost high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels also may improve blood-sugar control for diabetics, according to a new analysis of a discontinued study.

Australian researchers found that torcetrapib, a cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibitor, could improve HDL or "good" cholesterol levels while improving blood-sugar control among diabetics.

OAKLAND, Calif. — Patients in northern California using Kaiser Permanente’s services who received new prescriptions for statin drugs through mail-order pharmacy showed better control of their cholesterol in the first three to 15 months following the start of therapy than those who obtained them from Kaiser Permanente Northern California pharmacies, according to a new study.

NEW YORK — A study slated to appear in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, a publication of the Endocrine Society, found that adolescent girls that take the diabetes drug metformin may prevent or delay the development of polycystic ovary syndrome, a common cause of infertility.

CHICAGO — Women in the higher-income bracket won't object to buying private-label cosmetics if they think that their quality and performance are on par with national brands, according to recent Mintel research.

Mintel research found that 64% of women in the $100,000 to $149,000 income bracket planned to continue buying some store-brand/private-label color cosmetics and some brand-name color cosmetics; meanwhile, only 50% of those in the $50,000 to $74,000, and 48% in the $75,000 to $99,000, bracket said the same thing.