INSIGHTS AND PERSPECTIVES

NEW YORK It’s not wireless, but that doesn’t necessarily matter — the significance of a product like this is in its enhanced track and chart functionalities.

NEW YORK No matter where that H1N1 vaccine is eventually disseminated to a waiting and acutely aware public — be it the corner pharmacy or the school gymnasium down the street — this year’s flu season featuring the novel H1N1 virus is expected to have a profound impact on pharmacy, and pharmacy is poised to take its place center stage.

NEW YORK Like a mythical Hydra that keeps sprouting new heads, the massive, shape-shifting beast masquerading as the U.S. Senate’s compromise health-reform legislation keeps growing in size, reach and complexity as lawmakers tack on amendments that reflect their own philosophy about the role of government and the nature of the healthcare crisis. And in the midst of the debate, retail-pharmacy leaders are doing their best to make their voices heard.

NEW YORK CVS Caremark's opening of its 7,000th store is important as it is yet another indication of the retailer's strong management, efficient execution and its ability to understand and meet the needs of its shoppers.

Serving more than 4 million customers per day, the $87 billion powerhouse has proven over the years that it is a well-oiled machine. Today, it is aggressively taking an active role on the front lines of healthcare by leveraging its PBM business and MinuteClinics.

NEW YORK This story was picked up yesterday by our Drug Store News team for the Weekly Drug Fix as a prime example of the convenience that an established drug store footprint, combined with a burgeoning retail-based convenient clinic care model, can deliver to the American public.

NEW YORK Determining just how much FSAs are utilized in the purchase of OTCs has always been somewhat of a fuzzy science. Thanks to the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation, we now have a government source suggesting that about $460 million per year in sales tax revenues would have been generated in the ensuing five years. Using state sales tax rates as of July 2009, the mean average tax across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia is 5.1%.