Retail Clinics

LOUISVILLE, Ky. Baptist Healthcare System, which operates a network of hospitals and other facilities throughout the state, is looking to expand the number of clinics it operates inside select Walmart locations, according to a local news report.

Baptist Healthcare System currently operates six Baptist Express Care clinics at six Walmart stores in the state.

According to Business First of Louisville, the healthcare system is looking to open 24 clinics in such areas as Middletown and Shelbyville, Nicholasville and Somerset, Ky.

COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y. Cirrus Healthcare Products has expanded its ear care offerings with a new product, slated to hit retail shelves in spring 2011.

Tinnitex is the first and only earplug to help relieve tinnitus, a condition that causes ringing in the ears, the company said. According to the Journal of Clinical Nursing, more than 50 million Americans suffer from tinnitus.

SILVER SPRING, Md. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued warning letters to three companies that manufacture and market mouth rinse products with claims that they remove plaque above the gum line or promote healthy gums. According to the FDA, these claims suggested the products are effective in preventing gum disease when no such benefit has been demonstrated.

Warning letters were sent to: Johnson & Johnson (Listerine total care anti-cavity mouthwash), CVS (CVS complete care anti-cavity mouthwash), and Walgreens (Walgreen mouth rinse full action).

PARSIPPANY, N.J. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare is urging the Food and Drug Administration to remove smokeless tobacco products from the market.

HOUSTON The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now is recommending that everybody older than 6 months of age get vaccinated for the flu, as the flu has begun appearing in various states and last year’s H1N1 flu is expected to appear again.

In response, RediClinic is offering two options for vaccination: the traditional injectable vaccine and a nasal spray version.

DENVER Weight-management products maker Atkins Nutritionals has introduced five new products for its Advantage, Day Break and Endulge lines.

CAMP HILL, Pa. One week after Walgreens announced that it was offering pertussis immunizations at its California locations, Rite Aid has followed suit.

Rite Aid said Monday that pharmacists at more than 500 Rite Aid stores across the state will offer pertussis, or whooping cough, vaccinations to individuals ages 7 years and older. The disease already has claimed the lives of nine infants in the state and is on pace to become the worst epidemic the state has seen in 50 years.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Target-funded study, conducted by the University of Minnesota Food Industry Center, found that hunger costs Minnesota residents more than $1.62 billion annually in direct and indirect health and education costs.