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Inside This Issue - News
Acknowledging the significant advancements made by retail pharmacies and pharmacists, National Association of Chain Drug Stores chairman Larry Merlo noted that “the road ahead is still wide open, and the challenges and opportunities it brings are tremendous.” Continuing its efforts to engage on pro-pharmacy, pro-patient issues from policy and political perspectives, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores launched a “get-out-the-vote” effort and recognized the political engagement of two member companies at the 2010 NACDS Pharmacy and Technology Conference held here last month. In a triumph for pharmacy, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed withdrawing provisions of the Medicaid average manufacturer price (AMP) rule. Walgreen Co. made a pair of purchases earlier this month, adding 18 drug stores to its network and swapping its long-term care operation for a bigger stake in the home infusion business. Eleven members of the Chain Drug Consortium have formed the Chain Pharmacy Alliance (CPA) as a contractual joint venture to aggregate their generic pharmaceutical volume into one compliant program. After last year’s vaccine shortages and the worries over an H1N1 pandemic, community pharmacy chains are stepping up their efforts to provide flu vaccines this year. Fruth Pharmacy veteran Bob Messick has joined the Chain Drug Marketing Association (CDMA) as the organization’s senior vice president, a new position. As part of its ongoing effort to combat prescription drug abuse, Cardinal Health Inc. highlighted its Generation Rx toolkit at this year’s National Association of Chain Drug Stores Pharmacy and Technology Conference here. H.D. Smith senior vice president of strategic planning Joe Conda was given the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Harold W. Pratt Award at the association’s annual Pharmacy & Technology Conference held here last month.
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