HEALTH

NEW YORK For two decades or more, independent pharmacy owners have been slammed by managed care, steady prescription reimbursement cuts, chain competition and regulatory hurdles. But in the Darwinian struggle of an unforgiving pharmacy market, the strongest are holding firm.

NEW YORK There is a big danger here, and it’s a danger that has less to do with the neighborhood meth addict in search of pseudoephedrine, and more to do with appropriate access to medicines and who gets to be the gatekeeper to that access. Because not only will a prescription-only PSE restrict consumer access to a legitimate nonprescription cough-cold ingredient, but if successfully mandated by the local government, it also has the potential to limit legitimate access to just about any cost-saving OTC medicine and for just about any reason.

NEW YORK Nonadherence to prescription medications is a big problem — a $200 billion-a-year problem for the already strained U.S. healthcare system.

That’s why CVS Caremark’s decision to embark a multiyear study, in partnership with researchers from Harvard and Brigham and Young Women’s Hospital, to find ways to alleviate this burden is important.

NEW YORK It’s like “Whack-a-Mole,” that game-arcade exercise in quick reflexes and frustration.