Gray-Market Suppliers May Be Pharmacies in Name Only

Pharmacies may be getting the blame for selling hard-to-find drugs into the “gray market,” but the culprits are not necessarily established community businesses. A new congressional report uncovers the practice of creating sham pharmacies to supply the pipeline. A crackdown, however, could adversely affect legitimate drugstores just trying to serve their clientele. Read more…

Fake Pharmacist Case Underscores
Identity-Theft Dangers

A bizarre case in Florida highlights the dangers of identity theft when the victim holds a pharmacy license. Find out how a fake pharmacist practiced in Florida for 9 years before finally being discovered after a patient was injured by an incorrectly filled prescription. Here are the details.

Combining Alcohol With Some Drugs
Effectively Triples the Dose, Study Says

The dangers of too much alcohol are generally well known, but Swedish researchers have focused the spotlight on a little discussed danger: Ethanol sometimes can dramatically increase the amount of prescription and non-prescription drugs that are available to the body, effectively tripling the dosage. Read more…

Warn MS Patients About Seizure Risks With Ampyra

When dispensing the MS drug Ampyra, pharmacists should warn patients about the dangers of taking too much of the drug, such as doubling the next dose when the last dose was missed. That greatly increases the chance of seizures, according to a new FDA communication. What else do patients need to be told? Here are the details.