HEALTH

PARSIPPANY, N.J. — Novartis Consumer Health on Thursday voluntarily issued a recall of certain lots of Triaminic Syrups and Theraflu Warming Relief Syrups that were manufactured in the United States prior to Dec. 31, 2011. 

The full recall resulted from a faulty child-resistant feature of the bottle cap may not function properly, enabling the cap to be removed with the tamper-evident seal still in place.

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and nearby healthcare institutions shows that patients with diabetes experience better outcomes when they undergo face-to-face medication therapy management sessions with pharmacists.

WASHINGTON — Most Americans who reported getting a flu shot in the past season received that vaccination in their physician's office. However, about 20% received their flu shot at a retail pharmacy and 12.6% at a walk-in clinic, according to an Ipsos Public Affairs poll released Friday. That suggests that as many as 18.5 million flu shots were administered to adults at retail pharmacy and another 11.7 million to adults at walk-in clinics. 

ATLANTA — The flu epidemic is in full swing in the West and across the Southwest, as just about every state west of the Mississippi through to California is in the red on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weekly FluView for the week ended Jan. 26. 

As expected, many of those living in areas with high influenza-like illness activity were visiting their local drug stores for symptomatic relief. Drug store front-end sales were up 7.4% for the four weeks ended Jan. 26, according to reports citing Nielsen data. 

NEW YORK — Leading private-label supplier Perrigo has acquired pet health company Velcera for $160 million.

The deal follows last fall’s acquisition of Sergeants and signals Perrigo’s intent to accelerate growth in areas beyond its traditional businesses of consumer health care, nutrition products and prescriptions. Velcera is a pet health company best known for its PetArmor brand of flea and tick products that are widely available at retailers nationwide, much to the chagrin of veterinarians. PetArmor had sales of $60 million last year.

ARLINGTON, Va. — Face-to-face medication therapy management services can improve health outcomes for patients with diabetes, according to a new study.

NEW YORK — A nutritional supplement may help ward off gestational diabetes in pregnant women, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by researchers at Italy's University of Messina and published in the journal Diabetes Care, found that pregnant women with family histories of Type 2 diabetes who received myo-inositol saw a significant reduction in the incidence of gestational diabetes, a condition that causes high blood sugar in some pregnant women.

NEW YORK — The Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program on Wednesday determined the National Weight Loss Institute can support general weight-loss claims made in direct-response advertising for Prevoxin, a dietary supplement intended to promote weight loss, but recommended the marketer modify or discontinue certain claims.