Retail Clinics

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Take Care Health Systems, a subsidiary of Walgreens, on Tuesday announced a relationship with Cisco to operate the LifeConnections Health Center on Cisco's campus in San Jose, Calif. The LifeConnections Health Center provides Cisco employees and dependents with comprehensive and integrated health-and-wellness services, including primary care, physical therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, vision, health coaching and an on-site Walgreens pharmacy.

AKRON, Ohio — Performance Health announced the availability of Perform Pain Relieving Spray, a solution for applying cold therapy to hard-to-reach areas.

ALLEGAN, Mich. — Perrigo on Monday announced that it received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its store-brand version of Mucinex tablets.

Perrigo is still in litigation with Reckitt Benckiser involving the introduction of a private-label Mucinex. "Perrigo is working through the litigation and expects to begin shipping this product in our retail and wholesale customers' store brand packaging in the second half of our fiscal year," Perrigo chairman and CEO Joseph Papa said.

ATLANTA — Many elderly patients put themselves at risk for emergency hospitalization due to adverse drug events, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A study published online earlier this month by the American Journal of Cardiology concluded that supplementation with vitamin D conferred substantial survival benefits, specifically in patients with documented deficiency.

According to the research, evidence supported an association between vitamin D deficiency and hypertension, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease and heart failure.

NEW YORK — Pfizer is looking to sell its top-selling cholesterol drug directly to consumers at a greatly reduced price after the patent expires, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer would partner with health plans to sell Lipitor (atorvastatin) directly to consumers through the mail when the drug's patent expires at the end of the month, opening the drug to generic competition.

NEW YORK — A test commonly used to identify patients with diabetes or those at risk of developing the condition may not produce accurate results among children, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan.

The study, published online ahead of print in the journal Diabetes Care, tested 254 overweight children using both fasting and nonfasting methods. Researchers found that the recommended test, hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), missed more cases of prediabetes or diabetes, compared with other tests.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — PharmaCline has launched a topical antibiotic for prediabetes and diabetes patients that is designed to treat minor cuts, scrapes and burns.

Diabecline, the company said, is an over-the-counter antibiotic that targets the source of infection through site-specific penetration technology.

"Our Diabecline antibiotic allows users who are at greater risk of developing serious infections to achieve better care," PharmaCline CEO Steve Keough said.