The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released early estimates of the influenza vaccine effectiveness for the 2014-2015 season in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Early estimates indicate that the seasonal influenza vaccine was just 23 percent effective. The interim estimate, which is relatively low when compared with previous seasons, likely reflects the fact tha...

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Americans without health insurance have until Feb. 15 to enroll in affordable, quality plans through the Health Insurance Marketplace. As a pharmacist, you work with customers without insurance or pharmacy coverage every day who struggle to pay for critical medication(s) out of pocket. You can help them begin enrollment in quality, affordable health insurance coverage simply by providing informati...

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On Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advisory Panel recommended approval of the first U.S. biosimilar medication Zarxio, which is Sandoz’s (a unit of Novartis) equivalent to Neupogen currently manufactured by Amgen. According to the advisory panel, Zarxio should be approved for the same five conditions Neupogen is approved to treat. The FDA will most likely m...

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Access MPA’s 2015 legislative priorities to see how your Association will be advocating for the profession this year. Don’t know where to begin to advocate for key pharmacy issues? Utilize the talking points available that summarize key points and pharmacists’ roles in important areas. Visit www.MichiganPharmacists.org/advocacy/priorities to get to know the areas MPA will focus o...

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The National Governors Association (NGA), in collaboration with the state boards of pharmacy, the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations and the American Pharmacists Association, has released a paper summarizing three key points in expanding the role of pharmacists in health care. They define the three challenges as expanding collaborative practice agreement provisions, achieving provid...

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