Retail Clinics

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first vaccine for preventing meningococcal disease in children as young as 9 months old, the agency said.

The FDA announced the approval of Menactra, made by Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines arm of French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis. Meningococcal disease is a life-threatening illness caused by Neisseria meningitidis bacteria that infect the bloodstream and the lining surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

With a new leader at the helm, a robust management team in place and an unwavering focus on driving medication adherence and reducing healthcare costs, CVS Caremark remains squarely on the growth path and continues to play an increasingly important role in U.S. health care with its far-reaching store network and arsenal of products and services.


“After all, we’re from around here, too.” That message, delivered to millions of Texas consumers via the pharmacy page on H-E-B’s heavily scanned website, lies at the heart of the San Antonio-based supermarket chain’s seemingly unshakeable grip on both customers and patients in the Lone Star State. The H.E. Butt Grocery Co. maintains high marks for customer loyalty, innovative patient care services, a quality shopping experience and plenty of healthy choices in its food aisles.


HOUSTON — RediClinic, which operates 29 clinics inside H-E-B grocery stores in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, is launching in May the new Weigh Forward medically supervised weight-loss program.

Weigh Forward, which was developed in partnership with weight-loss expert David Katz, will be available starting May 16 at all 29 RediClinic locations.


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.

WASHINGTON — Two associations representing dietary supplement companies criticized a British Medical Journal meta-analysis published April 20 that concluded calcium and vitamin D supplementation may increase risk of heart attack and stroke.