Retail Clinics

ALLEGAN, Mich. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a generic version of Rogaine made by Perrigo, the drug maker said.

Perrigo announced the FDA approval of over-the-counter minoxidil foam, a generic version of men’s Rogaine foam.

Stiefel Research Australia, part of GlaxoSmithKline, sued Perrigo for patent infringement when the latter submitted its regulatory approval application. Under a settlement between the companies reached in February, Perrigo can launch its generic version of men’s Rogaine foam in March 2012.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens is expanding its scope of preventive healthcare services by offering daily testing for total cholesterol, blood glucose and A1C levels at more than 1,400 pharmacies across 33 states and Washington, D.C.

NEW YORK — Retail-based health clinics continue to grow and likely will become a durable part of the healthcare system, according to a report by independent healthcare market research firm Kalorama Information.

The firm estimated retail clinic sales at $733.4 million, an increase of 81% per year since 2005, in its latest report, "Retail Clinics 2011: Market Assessment, Supplier Sales, Key Players and Trends."

NEW YORK — Many U.S. voters are in favor of expanding the use of nurse practitioners for routine medical care, and most believe that the quality of health care would improve if routine care was handled by nurse practitioners and doctors were able to focus more on challenging healthcare issues, according to the findings of a recent survey.

According to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 1,000 adults, 67% of likely U.S. voters favored training and licensing nurse practitioners to expand the level of routine care they provide.


In response to the news last month that Rite Aid named Tony Montini EVP merchandising, DSN shared this exchange with an online reader:


Dear DSN;


I am a Rite Aid pharmacist in the small desert town of Needles, Calif. Needles is a poor town with a lot of our business being Medi-Cal — state Medicaid. ... This is the rub: There are no Medi-Cal providers in the city! Most people have to go to the emergency room, or those with Medicare D plans [travel] 20 miles across the Colorado River to Arizona. ...


HOUSTON — Walgreens’ Safe Medication Disposal Program, launched in September 2010 in partnership with Sharps Compliance, has collected more than 15,000 lbs. of unused or expired medications, Walgreens announced Monday.

“We estimate that more than 200 million lbs. of unused dispensed medications are disposed of improperly each year,” Sharps Compliance president and CEO David Tusa said.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Caremark's MinuteClinic division has expanded its suite of services to now include vitamin B12 injections and the human papillomavirus vaccination Gardasil.


ORLANDO, Fla. — Studies have indicated that the best people to get patients to adhere to their medication therapies are store pharmacists, while the second-best people are nurses. Thus, it’s only natural that getting nurses and pharmacists to collaborate will further improve adherence. The collaborative care track that The Drug Store News Group will introduce at the Retail Clinician Education Congress in August is a step in that direction.