Regulatory and Washington

MONMOUTH BEACH, N.J. — A new switch paradigm could open the door to $35.7 billion in OTC opportunity, according to a new report recently released by Francesco International. 

NEW YORK — An annual event at the Virginia state General Assembly drew several students from a local pharmacy school.

Hampton University said 24 of its students visited the General Assembly in Richmond, Va., on Jan. 30 to participate in Virginia Pharmacy Day, organized every year by the Virginia Pharmacist Association. 

The event combined a health fair — with cholesterol, diabetes and blood pressure screenings — and legislative visits with state representatives to discuss pharmacy-related issues.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug made by Celgene for treating the cancer multiple myeloma, the agency said Friday.

The FDA announced the approval of Pomalyst (pomalidomide) for patients whose disease has progressed after treatment with other cancer drugs.

NEW YORK - Surprise inspections at 40 compounding pharmacies in Massachusetts last fall have led to 10 being ordered to stop sterile compounding, according to published reports.

State health authorities sent cease-and-desist letters to 11 pharmacies, telling 10 to stop compounding altogether and one to stop compounding the drug sildenafil citrate. Twenty-one other pharmacies were allowed to continue compounding, but were cited for minor violations.

ATLANTA - Smoking among adults with mental illnesses is 70% higher than among those without them, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NEW YORK — A new strain of the bacterium that causes whooping cough immune to vaccines may have appeared in the United States, according to a brief published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The brief, filed by officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities, reported that a strain of Bordetella pertussis had been reported in Japan, France and Finland and may have appeared in Philadelphia, where 12 children were hospitalized between 2011 and 2012.

ARLINGTON, Va. — National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) president and CEO Steve Anderson, calls a new study by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) “further proof of community pharmacy’s ability to improve patients’ lives while making healthcare more affordable in this country.”

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A survey of community pharmacists suggests that "preferred pharmacy" Medicare Part D drug benefit plans may pose challenges for seniors in rural communities. The finding comes shortly after similar questions were raised at the January public meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Congress' advisory board on Medicare issues, the National Community Pharmacists Association noted Thursday.