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We’ve done a lot of pivoting in the past year, from going to work and going to school to doing both from home. We’ve pivoted from large gatherings and public events to wearing masks and staying six feet apart and watching much of the world go by on television. Front-line workers had to pivot quickly to 24/7 crisis mode with no work-from-home option.
We are now pivoting again in the United States, from a scenario of vaccine demand exceeding supply to one of supply soon exceeding demand. Those who were frantically scrambling for vaccine appointments a couple of months ago can now find them with relative ease. Meanwhile, the CDC has relaxed its guidance on wearing masks outdoors, mostly for the fully vaccinated, while telling us all to keep masking up in indoor public places and outdoor events with big crowds.
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The United States, represented by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), claimed that Walmart Inc. must face the consequences of filling thousands of invalid opioid prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in an opposition to the defendantâs request for dismissal.Â
The case, filed last December, contended that Walmart fanned the nationâs opioid crisis with its unscrupulous pharmacy practices. The federal governmentâs April 23 opposition argued that if accepted, the retail pharmacyâs arguments in support of dismissal âwould render pharmacists rubber stamps.â
The District of Delaware filing asserted that Walmartâs pharmacists filled prescriptions issued by known âpill-millâ prescribers or with âobvious red flags,â and violated the rules of professional pharmacy practice. In its role as distributor, the opposition reiterated that Walmart bucked its obligations to repor
Kroger Health president spotlights pharmacy industry’s response to COVID-19 crisis
Kroger Health President Colleen Lindholz has been elected chairman of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), taking over from Meijer President and CEO Rick Keyes.
Lindholz, who leads the health care services arm of The Kroger Co., accepted the chairman’s gavel today from Keyes, who completed his one-year term, at the NACDS Annual Meeting, which runs April 26 to 28.
Speaking at the virtual event’s Business Program on Tuesday, Lindholz pointed to the chain drug industry’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, led by its efforts to boost access to coronavirus testing and vaccines.
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The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets today to review the data that have led, “out of an abundance of caution,” to a recommended pause in the use of J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. The focus is on six cases of what appears to be a very rare but severe type of blood clot, all occurring in women ages 18 to 48, with symptoms developing six to 13 days after vaccination. One woman died and another is hospitalized in critical condition.
Nearly 7 million doses of the single-dose J&J vaccine have been given in this country. The concern is a clot known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, occurring in combination with low blood platelets. Traditional treatments for clots, such as heparin, may actually be dangerous in this situation. The CDC and FDA are advising that anyone who has received the J&J vaccine and develops severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain or shortness of breath within three weeks of being vaccinated should contact
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