WALGREENS

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens announced on Tuesday record sales and earnings for the second quarter as it celebrated a milestone of filling 1-in-every-5 retail prescriptions for the first time in the company's history.

Net earnings for the quarter were $739 million, or 80 cents per diluted share, compared with $669 million, or 68 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

REDFORD, Mich. — Nature's Health Connection said its over-the-counter pain-relief cream has garnered record retail sales.

Sales for Australian Dream — a Food and Drug Administration-approved odorless, greaseless, dye-free and capsaicin-free cream — increased more than 145%, according to the company. Nature's Health Connection attributed the sales spike to a 30-second television commercial. 

Australian Dream is designed to treat minor aches and pains associated with osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as other muscle ailments.

NEW YORK — Following the recent sale of Walgreens' pharmacy benefit management business, Credit Suisse analysts said they are interested in the executive team's updated thinking on their healthcare strategy and plans for the $550 million in proceeds.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — The Doobie Brothers once recorded a song called "Taking It to the Streets," and that's kind of what Walgreens did when two top executives took the message of the changing role of the community pharmacist on the road.

(THE NEWS: WAG VP talks to Chicago Tribune about changing role of pharmacist. For the full story, click here)

CHICAGO — New federal and state regulations are expanding the role of the pharmacist, noted Richard Ashworth, Walgreens VP pharmacy services, during a live “Health Chat” hosted by Chicago Tribune reporter Bruce Japsen on Thursday afternoon. And that’s of benefit to patients at large, especially as “community pharmacy is located in the local communities and [is] a natural extension of the healthcare system,” Ashworth wrote.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens on Wednesday donated $150,000 to the American Red Cross in response to the earthquake that struck Japan last week. The company also will match employee donations up to $100,000.

STERLING, Colo. — The value in enabling innovation and niche marketing at the store level was evidenced in a Journal-Advocate report Tuesday around the introduction of an innovative healthcare product that was picked up across three individual Walgreens.

The full report can be found here.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — One of the nation's largest drug store chains announced its sponsorship of nationwide life-saving trainings hosted by the American Red Cross.

The “Gabrielle Giffords Honorary Save-a-Life Saturday” event, which will be held March 19, will offer free training and instruction on hands-only CPR, controlling external bleeding, and recognizing and managing shock. The event is named after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically injured, along with several other citizens, during the recent Tucson, Ariz., shooting. Six people were killed.