Specialty Pharmacy

LAVAL, Quebec — Valeant Pharmaceuticals International on Thursday announced the expiration of the tender offer by a subsidiary of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International to purchase all of the outstanding shares of Solta Medical for $2.92 per share in cash, without interest (less any applicable withholding taxes). 

The offer expired at midnight on Jan. 23, 2014. 

CAMBRIDGE, Minn. — Anoka-Ramsey Community College announced that it will offer an associate in science degree in pharmacy technician. The required general education courses for the new program can be taken at either the Cambridge or Coon Rapids locations.

Program-specific courses are held at the Cambridge campus to help meet the needs of area pharmacies, according to the college.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Assembly Member Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, on Tuesday introduced legislation that would authorize a pharmacist to dispense the narcotic antagonist naloxone hydrochloride without a prescription in California. 

Naloxone is used to treat overdoses of narcotic medications including morphine, codeine and oxycodone and works by reversing the side effects of the narcotic, such as sedation and decreased breathing rate.

ARLINGTON, Va. — When selecting an exchange health plan under the Affordable Care Act, consumers should be able to evaluate plans’ success in medication management, among other quality measures, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores stated in comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Specifically, NACDS urged CMS to adopt measures related to medication adherence and appropriate medication use as part of its Quality Rating System for Qualified Health Plans, which are offered through health insurance exchanges.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to include $10 million in his 2014-2015 executive budget proposal for Binghamton University to commence site acquisition and design work for a School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy.

WASHINGTON — According to an economic impact analysis released Tuesday by Martin Kennedy, a former professor of economics who spent seven years on the faculty of Middle Tennessee State University, adopting a prescription requirement for pseudoephedrine products in Tennessee would result in an influx of more than 497,000 additional physician office visits at a direct cost of $44.3 million annually.

DEERFIELD, Ill. — Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A. and Lundbeck on Tuesday announced the availability of Brintellix (vortioxetine) — a once-daily oral antidepressant for treatment of major depressive disorder in adults — in pharmacies across the United States.

“MDD continues to be a challenging condition to manage, and we are proud to make Brintellix available as a new treatment option for people struggling with major depression,” said Douglas Cole, president of Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new study from researchers at Ohio State University is reporting that older patients who receive written information on shingles were almost three times more likely to get vaccinated than those that didn’t receive a similar communication. The study is also one of the first to show that using a patient’s electronic medical record coupled with pharmacist intervention markedly improves preventative care of shingles over the current standard.