HEALTH

MORRISTOWN, N.J. — On Tuesday, Lifetime Television’s program “The Balancing Act” will feature an appearance from Sarita Thapar, director of medical affairs for Actavis, to discuss the benefits of the company’s pediatric suppository FeverAll, Actavis announced last week.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a ruling hailed by retail pharmacy leaders, the Department of Defense now is insisting that drug manufacturers extend the same discounts for prescription drugs sold at community pharmacies that the military gets for medicines dispensed through base dispensaries or mail order.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Humana and Wal-Mart Stores on Monday announced that Mary Lee Reinscheld became the first Medicare beneficiary to sign up for the new Humana Walmart-Preferred Rx Plan at one of the Humana informational kiosks available in approximately 3,000 Walmart stores nationwide.

Reinscheld signed her Humana application at Walmart store No. 1170 here as the annual enrollment period for Medicare beneficiaries, including seniors and people with disabilities, got under way.

CHICAGO — A drug made by Pfizer may help decrease the risk of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization in patients with chronic heart failure, according to a late-stage clinical study.

The “Emphasis-HF” study — funded by Pfizer, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Heart Association scientific sessions in Chicago — found that adding Inspra (eplerenone) to standard therapies reduced the risks compared with placebo.

A recent Raymond James Financial commercial, in which the “fastidious librarian Emily Skinner” lives to the “ripe old age of 187” (thanks in part to prudent financial planning), really captures what tomorrow’s senior is going to look like — or at least what he or she will aspire to look like. And judging by the commercial, seniors will look extremely active, playing a ping-pong champ, landing a record-setting bass and setting off on a hang glider into the sunset.

NEW ORLEANS — Moving, in its own words, “beyond e-prescribing,” paperless platform provider Surescripts has begun expanding its nationwide e-prescribing network to allow doctors, pharmacists and other health professionals to exchange all types of clinical information.

Today, American consumers are more focused on the foods they eat. They read labels. They understand the importance of fiber and whole grains. They know the difference between good and bad fats.

DEERFIELD, Ill. —The healthcare landscape is changing. There’s a new value-driven consumer who has emerged and, in light of this, retail pharmacy giant Walgreens is in the midst of an evolution into “a retail health and daily living store” and is on a mission to “own well.” That was a key message that an optimistic Greg Wasson, Walgreens president and CEO, had for Wall Street during the company’s Analyst Day conference on Nov. 4 in Chicago.