Diabetes

BOSTON — Women who work a rotating schedule that includes three or more night shifts per month, in addition to day and evening working hours in that month, may have an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes when compared with women who only work days or evenings, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard's School of Public Health that was released Tuesday.

In addition, the researchers found that extended years of rotating night shift work was associated with weight gain, which may contribute to the increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.

MINNETONKA, Minn. — United Health Foundation’s "2011 America’s Heath Rankings," released Tuesday, found that increases in obesity, diabetes and children in poverty are offsetting improvements in smoking cessation, preventable hospitalizations and cardiovascular deaths. According to the report, the country’s overall health did not improve between 2010 and 2011 — a drop from the 0.5% average annual rate of improvement between 2000 and 2010, and the 1.6% average annual rate of improvement seen in the 1990s.

When someone says “pharmacy automation and technology,” the image that most likely springs to mind is a pharmacy robot dispensing pills in a bottle or pharmacists managing operations or looking at patients’ medical records and electronic prescriptions with the latest pharmacy software.


But technology increasingly is migrating out from behind the counter as pharmacy retailers wield it not just to make the jobs of pharmacists and pharmacy techs easier, but to enhance the experience of the customer as well.


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Nipro Diagnostics on Thursday was recognized by the Manufacturers Association of Florida with the 2011 Manufacturer of the Year Award.

Sam’s Club has been on a roll the past few years, and an emphasis on health-and-wellness categories has figured prominently into the warehouse club operator’s improved performance.


ATLANTA — As many as 111 million Americans had gotten a flu shot by mid-November, representing 36% of the 305 million Americans over the age of 6 months, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in a media telebriefing Monday afternoon. The number of people getting vaccinated is up slightly from last year, the CDC reported, most notably among children and seniors.

Since the inception of retail-based health clinics in 2000, the concept has grown to more than 1,300 locations throughout the United States and, in more recent months, has celebrated several significant milestones that prove clinics are not only an integral part of the U.S. healthcare system but also are a viable model for retailers when handled correctly. The real question now: Are we on the brink of clinics version 2.0?


Upon entering eRxCity on the second floor of a medical building at the corner of Mott and Canal streets in Chinatown in New York City, the store’s whole concept becomes clear from a slogan printed on the wall across from a flat-screen TV showing Hong Kong soap operas: “The next generation pharmacy.”