Retail Clinics

CROMWELL, Conn. — Amerifit Brands on Wednesday launched its Azo PMS product, which has been formulated to help reduce moodiness, irritability and bloating with a variety of ingredients, including high-potency B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, folic acid and two natural herbal blends, the company stated.

SAN DIEGO — HealthPrize Technologies and RealAge will launch a study next month that will test HealthPrize’s medication adherence technologies on patients taking asthma medications, the two companies said Wednesday.

HealthPrize is the creator of an Internet and mobile app that uses behavioral economics and gaming dynamics to improve medication adherence, while RealAge is a health website that uses the RealAge Test to assess a person’s mortality risk based on health-related factors.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark outlined on Tuesday at a consumer health engagement conference the results of a personalized consumer communications program designed to encourage patients to take their medications as doctors direct.

Early results of the program showed increases in consumers signing up for automatic prescription refills and more readily substituting branded medications for generic medicines to lower costs.

MADISON, N.J. — Ragweed and mold are driving increased allergies across America, Quest Diagnostics reported Monday.

In the study, sensitization rates to common ragweed and mold increased the most of the 11 common allergens evaluated over a four-year period. Sensitization to common ragweed grew 15% nationally, while mold grew 12%. By comparison, sensitization to the 11 allergens combined increased 5.8%.

HAWTHORNE, N.Y. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic over-the-counter treatment for allergies made by Taro Pharmaceutical Industries.

Taro announced Monday the approval of cetirizine hydrochloride oral solution.

The drug, a generic version of Johnson & Johnson’s children’s Zyrtec, is used to relieve symptoms of indoor and outdoor allergies and is available in a sugar-free bubblegum flavor.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The American Diabetes Association announced that it will fund research that will examine the effectiveness of technology-based diabetes management devices.

The studies, funded by the American Diabetes Association/Medtronic Technology in Diabetes Fellowship, will utilize Medtronic's CareLink database — a database of anonymous continuous glucose monitoring and insulin pump-derived data — to assess, evaluate and correlate the application of this and similar technologies used by patients with insulin-treated diabetes.

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Bayer has launched a reformulated aspirin called Bayer Advanced Aspirin that works in less than half the time of the company's regular aspirin, according to published reports.

According to yet-to-be-published research, the new Bayer Advanced Aspirin can begin providing meaningful pain relief in as little as 16 minutes, compared with an average 100 minutes for the company's mainstay brand.

NEW YORK — Such mood disorders as anxiety and depression may be a precursor to diabetes in Latinos, according to a study by University of California at San Diego researchers scheduled for presentation at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in Honolulu.

As reported in the Los Angeles Times, the researchers found that while Latinos have higher-than-average rates of diabetes, they also seem to have higher-than-average risk of having both diabetes and a mood disorder.