Specialty Pharmacy

MIAMI — Navarro Discount Pharmacy is promoting colon cancer screenings in the month of March under a partnership with a group focused on the disease, Navarro said Friday.

The regional retail pharmacy has partnered with StopColonCancerNow.com to promote the screenings, which screening guidelines advise adults older than 50 years to receive, or 45 years if they are African-American. According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year survival rate for colon cancer is 90% when detected and treated in the earliest stage.

WASHINGTON — Employers that use multiple cost-management programs have a 50% lower specialty drug trend than those that don't use them, according to a new study by pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts.

The study, presented Thursday at the National Business Group on Health's Business Health Agenda 2013 conference in Washington, was described as one of the first to examine the effect of multiple utilization management programs on the cost of specialty medications, which is expected to account for $1 out of every $4 spent on prescription drugs by 2014.

WOONSOCKET, R.I. — Washington-based healthcare accrediting organization URAC has given a subsidiary of CVS Caremark case management accreditation, valid through March 1, 2016, CVS said Wednesday.

CVS said Accordant Health Services met URAC's standards, which require companies to establish processes to assess, plan and implement case management interventions.

WASHINGTON — Several senators have requested that the Government Accountability Office look for ways to coordinate the efforts of law enforcement and public health agencies at various levels and nonprofit organizations to address prescription drug abuse.

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A system for connecting doctors with patients via smartphone is being presented at a healthcare information technology conference this month.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Center for Healthcare Supply Chain Research, the foundation of the Healthcare Distribution Management Association, on Friday announced the appointment of three directors to its board: including Gregory Drew, president of Value Drug Company; Peyton Howell, president of global sourcing and manufacturer relations at AmerisourceBergen; and, Kirk Kaminsky, SVP operations of McKesson Specialty Health.

PHILADELPHIA — The Food and Drug Administration has accepted a regulatory application for a new painkiller from Iroko Pharmaceuticals, the drug maker said Monday.

Iroko is seeking approval for a lower-dose, submicron diclofenac, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug for treating mild to moderate acute pain in adults.

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration will inspect about 30 compounding pharmacies that it has deemed "high risk," according to published reports.

Businessweek reported that the FDA started visits to the pharmacies started last month and would continue for the next two months. So far, unsanitary conditions were found at pharmacies in Chicago, Florida, Arkansas and Mississippi.