Retail Clinics

ALLEGAN, Mich. — Perrigo on Monday announced that it received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its store-brand version of Mucinex tablets.

Perrigo is still in litigation with Reckitt Benckiser involving the introduction of a private-label Mucinex. "Perrigo is working through the litigation and expects to begin shipping this product in our retail and wholesale customers' store brand packaging in the second half of our fiscal year," Perrigo chairman and CEO Joseph Papa said.

ATLANTA — Many elderly patients put themselves at risk for emergency hospitalization due to adverse drug events, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug for insomnia in which patients wake in the middle of the night and have trouble returning to sleep.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A new tool developed by researchers at the University of Missouri improved both the efficiency and accuracy of acquiring data needed for high-quality diabetes care, according to a new study.

NEW YORK — Pfizer is looking to sell its top-selling cholesterol drug directly to consumers at a greatly reduced price after the patent expires, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer would partner with health plans to sell Lipitor (atorvastatin) directly to consumers through the mail when the drug's patent expires at the end of the month, opening the drug to generic competition.

NEW YORK — A test commonly used to identify patients with diabetes or those at risk of developing the condition may not produce accurate results among children, according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan.

The study, published online ahead of print in the journal Diabetes Care, tested 254 overweight children using both fasting and nonfasting methods. Researchers found that the recommended test, hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), missed more cases of prediabetes or diabetes, compared with other tests.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — PharmaCline has launched a topical antibiotic for prediabetes and diabetes patients that is designed to treat minor cuts, scrapes and burns.

Diabecline, the company said, is an over-the-counter antibiotic that targets the source of infection through site-specific penetration technology.

"Our Diabecline antibiotic allows users who are at greater risk of developing serious infections to achieve better care," PharmaCline CEO Steve Keough said.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — An online data sharing platform announced it will debut a daily blood-glucose monitoring feature for its more than 2,000 diabetes patients.

PatientsLikeMe said patients will be able to report daily glucose levels, as well as continue sharing and learning from HbA1C scores, treatments and dosages, in addition to symptoms and severity.

The feature will be launched in early December, PatientsLikeMe said.