Pharmacy News

• Q-and-A: Medicare chief steps up effort to promote prescription-drug plan
  In an interview with The Boston Globe, Kerry Weems, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, sheds light on how to pick the best drug plan and reveals why he disagrees with the Consumers Union assessment of Medicare Part D. The Boston Globe (free registration) (12/23)

Medicare and Medicaid

• Congress passes Medicare bill without health IT mandate
  Congress has approved a Medicare bill that excludes the health information technology provision requested by the Bush administration. The legislation includes an increase in Medicare payments to doctors and continued funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. President George W. Bush has said he will sign the legislation. Health Data Management (12/21)

Retail News

• Kroger, Tesco analyze customer data
  Kroger Co. and Tesco both use U.K.-based marketing consultancy firm dunnhumby to get insights into consumer behavior. Dunnhumby, which is owned by Tesco, analyzes customer purchases and uses the data to develop shopper-specific promotions. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (12/24)

• Save Mart partners with market-information firm
  Save Mart Supermarkets has entered an expanded deal with Web-based market-information provider Information Resources to broaden its analysis of sales, promotion, pricing and product mix, Save Mart officials said. The deal is intended to provide the company with a better view of its performance and status in the market. Progressive Grocer (12/21)

• Reduced spending cuts into Target sales
  Target Corp. may fail to meet analysts' forecast for the fourth quarter mainly because consumers have become more conservative with their spending and cut back on purchases of optional products. The retailer, however, said it will not resort to price cuts, staff reductions and other measures that its bigger competitors have taken. NYTimes.com (12/24)

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by NACDS SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Judge halts new Medicaid reimbursement formula for pharmacies (Drug Store News)

• IRS requirements lead to new standard for health-benefit cards (Supermarket News)

• SUPERVALU to purchase Albertsons stores in Wyoming (American City Business Journals)

• Walgreens-owned clinic enters Cleveland market (Drug Store News)

• Retailers offer more gift-card choices (Detroit Free Press)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

In Washington

• Judge repeals Maine law on access to prescription data
  A federal judge in Maine has overturned a state law that restricted medical-data companies' access to doctors' prescription information, saying the law would hinder "the transfer of truthful commercial information" and "violate the free speech guarantee of the First Amendment." IMS Health and other companies challenging the law argued that it could have been used to cover up poor prescribing practices. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model)/Associated Press (12/24)

• New warning for painkiller patch
  The FDA on Friday issued a new safety warning for a skin patch containing the painkiller fentanyl, which has been linked to more than 3,500 accidental deaths between 1998 and 2005. The patch, developed for cancer patients suffering severe chronic pain, poses unique risks that patients and doctors often fail to understand, the agency said. Los Angeles Times (12/22)

U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry

• FDA sends "approvable letter" for Pfizer's antibiotic
  The FDA issued an "approvable letter" asking Pfizer for additional data on its skin-infection antibiotic dalbavancin, the company announced Friday. The agency also inquired about manufacturing issues involving one of Pfizer's third-party manufacturers. The Boston Globe/Associated Press (free registration) (12/21)

• Drug-trial company in $3B buyout deal
  Buyout firms Bain Capital and TPG Capital are buying One Equity Partners' stake in Quintiles Transnational, a drug-trial manager, in a deal that could be worth more than $3 billion. A significant stake will go to British private-equity firm 3i Group, and Temasek, Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund, will stay on as an investor. NYTimes.com (12/22)

Perspectives

• Stores work hard to keep customers from waiting
  Retailers don't want customers to use long lines as an excuse for bypassing them. With surveys showing many people buying gifts unusually late this season, stores are working extra hard to get them through checkout counters fast either through high-tech methods or by assigning more people to the registers. Bloomberg (12/21)

NACDS News

• NACDS honors North Carolina reporter as "Community Pharmacy Great Communicator"
  NACDS on Friday recognized Sabine Vollmer, biotechnology and pharmacy staff writer with The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., as a "Community Pharmacy Great Communicator." Vollmer was recognized for her Dec. 21 article "Personal service at your pharmacy; More stores stress the role druggists can play in helping customers get and stay healthy" in The News & Observer, illustrating the comprehensive and evolving role that pharmacists play in assisting patients with their health care needs. Read the complete release.

• Upcoming NACDS events
  

  Regional Chain Conference -- Feb. 3 to 6, 2008

  Supply Chain & Logistics Conference -- March 2 to 4, 2008

  Annual Meeting -- April 26 to 30, 2008

  Marketplace Conference -- June 28 to July 1, 2008

  Pharmacy & Technology Conference -- Aug. 23 to 27, 2008

  

Editor's Note

• SmartBrief will not be published on Tuesday
  In observance of Christmas in the U.S., SmartBrief will not be published on Tuesday. Publication will resume on Wednesday. Happy holidays!

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SmartQuote

Celebrate what you want to see more of." --Thomas J. Peters, writer and business management expert