Late yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug flibanserin, which will hit the market under the brand name Addyi. You’ll see a lot of headlines and smirking news anchors using the phrase “Viagra for women” when talking about the drug, but that’s only correct in one sense. This drug wouldn’t be for sale to patients at all if it weren’t for the success of Viagra as a drug marketed directly to consumers. [More]
Pharma Medicine
Drug Companies Agreed To Not Compete, Resulting In High Price For Generic Medication
By 8.18.15
Imagine that Bob and Mary are the only two kids in town allowed to sell lemonade. They could try to compete against each other, potentially resulting in lower prices, improved juice, or better service… or Mary could say to Bob, “How’s about you pay me some money so I don’t exercise my option to sell lemonade?” That means the price for lemonade is whatever Bob says it is, and he’s encouraged to keep it high because he’s paying some of that money out to Mary. Now imagine this isn’t about lemonade, but about prescription drugs. [More]
Costco Pushes Back Relaunch Of Online Photo Services Another Month Following July Hack
By 8.18.15
Fans of Costco’s photo services will likely be waiting another month before they are able to order pictures though its website, as the company that manages the site continues to recover from a July breach. [More]
Court Shuts Down Iowa Supplement Company Distribution Over Misbranding, Unfounded Safety Promises
By 8.17.15
There are about 200 fewer adulterated dietary supplements on the market today after a district court ordered an Iowa company and its owners to stop production of products over allegations the company sold potentially unsafe dietary supplements and falsely advertised them as treatments for diseases ranging from colds to cancer. [More]
Prescription Price Sticker Shock Is Now A Common Consumer Ailment
By 8.13.15
Maybe this has happened to you: you’re at the pharmacy, picking up a refill of a prescription that you or a family member have been taking for a long time. It’s a routine errand until you get sticker shock: the copay has suddenly shot up. You didn’t change insurance, it’s still the same year, and the drug is the same: how can a price change so dramatically so quickly? [More]
Colorado’s Pot Edibles Might Come Stamped With A Red THC Stop Sign
By 8.12.15
Stop, in the name of not accidentally getting stoned and losing your mind a la Maureen Dowd: In order to keep Colorado residents from mistaking marijuana edibles for non-drug-laced food, the state might slap stickers with red stop signs with the letters THC on them to warn folks before they ingest. The stop signs would also be stamped on the food itself. [More]
FDA: Lack Of Info In Kim Kardashian’s Endorsement Of Morning Sickness Pill Puts Consumers At Risk
By 8.11.15
While celebrities get special treatment most places they go, there is no VIP pass that allows them to endorse a prescription drug without disclosing its associated risks and limitations. So when mom-to-be Kim Kardashian used social media to sing the praises of a morning sickness pill, it raised a red flag for federal regulators. [More]
Rite Aid Changes Its Tune, Will Now Accept Apple Pay
By 8.11.15
In a reversal from its sudden decision in October last year to stop accepting Apple Pay at its stores after just a week of offering that option to shoppers, Rite Aid has announced it’s going back, and will allow it as a form of payment starting Aug. 15. [More]
CVS Must Pay $450K To Settle Claims That Pharmacies Filled Bogus Prescriptions
By 8.10.15
CVS Health agreed to pay $450,000 to settle a years-long investigation by Rhode Island and the Drug Enforcement Administration that several of its locations filled forged and invalid painkiller prescriptions in violation of federal laws. [More]
Walmart, Target, And CVS Do Not Want Your Credit Card Number To Ship You Free Stuff
By 8.6.15
There’s a new but not all that innovative scam hitting mailboxes in this country and in the United Kingdom. Experienced scam-spotters will see the problem right away, but not everyone is an experienced scam-spotter. Here’s how it works: a postcard arrives in the mail that says there’s a package waiting for you form a popular chain retailer. You just need to call in with your credit card number to claim it. [More]
Iowa Taco Bell Closed For Decontamination Due To Meth Components In Utility Room
By 8.5.15
At least one Taco Bell employee may have been planning to cook more than Quesaritos inside the building, according to local police in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Police say that two men were responsible for the “active meth-making ingredients” found in a utility room at the restaurant, but don’t know for sure whether the men actually cooked any methamphetamine in their makeshift lab. [More]
CVS/Caremark Dropping Viagra From Drug Formulary
By 8.4.15
Patients who use the erectile dysfunction pill Viagra and whose health insurance drug coverage is through CVS/Caremark will have to pay cash or switch to Cialis: the pharmacy benefits administrator has removed the drug from its formulary, which is a fancy word for “list of drugs that we’ll pay for.” [More]
Class-Action Suit Accuses CVS Of Overcharging Customers For Generic Drugs
By 7.31.15
The country’s second largest pharmacy chain is the latest party in a class-action lawsuit that accuses CVS of deliberately overcharging hundreds of thousands of patients for generic prescription drugs. [More]
FDA Warns About Mixups Between Drugs With Similar Names
By 7.30.15
Here’s a scary thought: dangerous medication mixups could begin at your doctor’s office. The FDA put out a warning today that they’ve received reports of mixups between similarly-named drugs that do very different things. The FDA urges patients and caregivers to know what the drug they’re supposed to be taking looks like, and alert medical providers if the drug that they receive looks different. [More]
Wendy’s Finally Begins Testing Antibiotic-Free Chicken
By 7.27.15
More than a year after Chick fil-A began its transition away from drugged-up chickens, and months after McDonald’s announced its plans to eventually go the antibiotic-free route, Wendy’s — the one major burger chain with ads that tout its better, more natural ingredients — is finally dipping its toes into the no-antibiotics pool. [More]
Costco Cuts Back On Chilean Salmon In Favor Of Antibiotic-Free Fish
By 7.23.15
Amid concerns of antibiotics overuse contributing to the development of drug-resistant superbugs, American consumers are increasingly demanding antibiotic-free meat and fish. That’s bad news for Chilean salmon farmers who are facing a bacterial outbreak and treating their fish with record levels of antibiotics — and losing the business of Costco and others. [More]
Yes, Here’s A Full Halloween Candy Display At Walgreens
By 7.21.15
Jill knew that her blog readers wouldn’t believe what she had seen, even if she presented them with a photo. At her local Walgreens store, there was a full display of Halloween treats, including candy corn and Snickers pumpkins. Halloween. On July 21. Please, retailers, we’re still uncomfortable at seeing Back-to-School displays in the big-box stores! Don’t do this to us! [More]
Costco, Three Other Retailers Suspend Photo Sites After Third-Party Host Suffers Possible Breach
By 7.21.15
Less than a week after CVS took down its CVSphoto.com site while it investigates a possible credit card breach, at least four other retailers including Costco and Sam’s Club have suspended online photo services following notification by the company that manages or hosts photo services for the sites of a possible data breach. [More]
