Remember Mary Bach? She’s the Pennsylvania woman who makes a hobby of suing retailers for not following her state’s tax laws. Well, this time she’s caught CVS charging sales tax on DTV converter boxes. Tsk, tsk.
Pharma Medicine
Who's Watching Our Nation's Honey Imports? Pretty Much No One
By 1.27.09
The Seattle P.I. reports that “two-thirds of the honey Americans consume is imported and almost half of that, regardless of what’s on the label, comes from China.” The first problem with that is some Chinese honey is “tainted with banned antibiotics” such as ciprofloxacin and chloramphenicol. The second problem, according to U.S. honey producers who are upset about the lack of oversight, is that whenever contaminated honey is discovered, many companies just sent it back to the importer and never tell the FDA—which means it can be resold elsewhere, including to other U.S. packers.
By 1.26.09
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Lipitor-shilling drug maker Pfizer has announced that they will be buying rival Wyeth for $68 billion. [WSJ Health Blog]
Dear President-Elect Obama, The FDA Is Mismanaged. Sincerely, The FDA
By 1.12.09
A letter to President-Elect Obama from nine FDA scientists makes alarming charges of mismanagement at the FDA, alleging incompetence, intimidation, and inappropriate industry influence.
Target's Pharmacy Will Not Answer Questions One Minute After Closing?
By 1.7.09
If you’re picking up your prescriptions close to closing time at Target’s pharmacy, you might want to make sure you don’t have any questions after closing time. Reader Kathy says she realized that she had a question about her son’s prescription immediately after picking up the prescription, but when she turned around to ask it — she was too late.
Drug Makers Say Goodbye To Swag In 2009
By 12.31.08
Beginning tomorrow morning, drug companies will stop peppering doctors’ offices with branded pens, bandages, tongue depressors, stethoscopes, calipers, mugs, prescription pads, soap dispensers, and t-shirts.
CVS Raises The Creep Bar: Easter Treats In December!
By 12.31.08
Reader Bob sent in this picture from a CVS in Indianapolis. Those are reduced price Christmas decorations in the background, and in the center: delicious Easter treats!
By 12.31.08
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Starting January 1, drug companies will implement a voluntary moratorium on branded goodies from drug companies.
Drug Maker Accused Of Paying Ghostwriters To Pen Journal Articles
By 12.12.08
A drug company is accused of paying ghostwriters to write favorable articles about their drugs — even after one drug was shown to raise the risk of cancer.
Boner Drug Ads To Run Exclusively During Programs Targeted To Adults?
By 12.10.08
Tired of your kids asking you what “erectile dysfunction” is? You’re not alone.
Walgreens Jerks You Around When You Try To Buy Plan B
By 12.1.08
A reader’s girlfriend tried to buy Plan B yesterday, but the Oxford, MS Walgreens pharmacy seemed to go out of their way to make it has hard as possible. Mere incompetence doesn’t explain what happened. Instead, it sounds more like a consciously decided system of policies designed to discourage people from buying the pill…
CVS: 'Tis The Season… In October
By 10.30.08
Hey, there’s only one more day till the first of two holidays that no one cares about anymore and 1 month, 25 days till Christmas!
Christmas Creep Is Mutating At Walgreens: "Halloween Trees?" Seriously?
By 10.27.08
It’s bad enough when people send us pictures of Halloween decorations mixed in with Christmas ones, but a “Halloween Tree”? What the hell is a “Halloween Tree?”
Half Of Doctors Routinely Prescribe Placebos
By 10.27.08
The New York Times says that half of doctors responding to a nationwide survey admitted to routinely prescribing placebos.
FDA Considers Banning OTC Cough Medicines For All Children Under 6
By 10.2.08
Pediatricians are asking the FDA to recall all OTC cough medicines for children under six years old, and the FDA is holding a public hearing on the subject today. One reason this has only recently become an issue is that when the FDA originally set rules for OTC cough medicines, they were based only on studies for adults, not kids, writes the Associated Press. Although there’s a low risk of unintentional overdose—the AP says about 7,000 children are admitted to ERs each year—the other issue is that there’s very little evidence that they’re effective.
Confirmed: Christmas Is Creeping
By 9.28.08
The Chicago Tribune confirms that Christmas is creeping up earlier this year as skittish retailers try to stay ahead of the ever-crescendoing non-recession. Walgreens, Kohls, and Home Depot were all singled out for defying the calendar, but blame also belongs with consumers who fuel seasonal ignorance with their buying choices.
Medicare Costs Going Up In 2009, So Be Ready To Compare Plans
By 9.27.08
If there’s one group of Americans who don’t carry their weight and need to pay more money to the healthcare industry, it’s those layabout senior citizens! That’s why their Medicare drug premiums are increasing by an average of 31% for the 10 most popular plans beginning in 2009. If you were with Humana, formerly the cheapest Medicare drug plan you could get (its premium was $9.51 in 2006), you can expect to pay $40.83 per month in 2009, an increase of 60% over this year’s rate. As you would expect, Humana is no longer the cheapest option—so it may be time to shop around for a new plan.
Stop Whining About Hurricane Ike, You're Scheduled To Work At Walgreens
By 9.15.08
Nearly all of Houston has no power and most has no water. Even though my upstairs ceiling caved in, my manager at Walgreens said “you’re scheduled to work and are expected to be here.”
