Happy New Year Everyone!

2012 is going to be a big one!  There are a lot of things coming down the pike affecting pharmacy patients across the state and country:

• January is traditionally a mess with insurances.  Everyone’s plans change and the computers can’t keep it straight.  To make it worse, nationally the communication system is being upgraded to a new standard.  That means our pharmacy staff will need lots of wine to prevent us from dreaming about insurances until February 15th or so.
• We’ll see the dissolution of mandatory mail order, thanks to you.  Our Anti-Mandatory Mail Order legislation passed and goes into affect for 2012.  Starting this year, insurances will be prohibited from forcing anyone to use mail order.
• The NYS EPIC changes go into affect.  If you are 65 or older and make less than 50k/year married or 35k/year single, PLEASE SIGN UP.  It’s free!
• Many big brands are going generic, saving everyone major bucks!

At our store, many great improvements are coming:

• New register systems to make the check out system smoother.  We’ll have a rewards program started in Saugerties that will work with both stores.  Exciting stuff.
• Monthly lectures for 10-20 people on different topics.  We’ll have diabetes education, heart healthy tips, nutrition, and vitamin lectures among much more.  These will be hosted weekly and topics will change monthly
• Rx Sync – make one trip to the drug store for all your medicines, on a day YOU choose.  Never run out of refills before your next doctor’s appointment!
• More Shingles clinics to increase access to these important vaccines!

You’ll see more on Facebook and our blog as well.

A few things we’re working on that get us really excited:

• an app for “scanning” your rx’s and sending them for refills
• coupons for the stuff you need
• a generic savings program:  you switch from a brand to a generic drug and we’ll buy you 1 month free!

Again, Happy New Year to all.  We could not do it without you!

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It worked!  All of our efforts have finally paid off!

Governor Cuomo signed our legislation into law last night!

“AMMO” or Anti-Mandatory Mail Order gives patients a choice:  mail order pharmacy OR community pharmacy for their prescriptions, with the same benefits, with the same price for the patient.  It was a common sense law that puts in a protection for patients against the mega-corporation pharmacy benefit managers.

How it works from here is as follows:

1. It has to become law, which is 13 business days after he signs it.  This is about New Year’s.
2. Any contract written thereafter will not allow mandatory mail order.  Some insurances have 2-3 year contracts, so this will take 2-3 years to be 100% official.
3. You will be notified with your next benefit notice probably

This truly could not have been done without the patients of Village and Woodstock Apothecary.  You signed petitions, called, emailed, and commented on blogs.  It was a true grassroots effort and restores my faith in the system.  The big guys don’t always make the rules; they don’t always win.

I feel that this is the beginning of something big.  With the “Occupy” movements fresh in our minds, I believe Americans are realizing that the small businesses that were taken for granted are necessary for us to survive as a nation.  The big guys grow in a manner to benefit stakeholders only and they will step on all in their path to get it.

In the world of pharmacy, this means attacking the pharmacy benefits managers.  They lack transparency and create market conditions that favor themselves at the expense of good care.  We will be working to reclaim what was taken in an effort to care for our patient family for years to come.

Thanks again.  This would not have happened without our awesome patients.

You rock.

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Consumer Reports recently did a study on fish oil; purity, potency, consistency.  This third party analysis is essential information that NEEDS to be done as frequently as possible.

BUT, Consumer Reports tested final products for spoilage.  Many fish oils are flavored with lemon and orange flavors which create a false positive for anisidine on tests.  This means, pure fish oil looks rancid if tested with flavors in them.

Consumer Reports January 2012 issue shows a very clean, diligent manufacturer, Nordic Naturals, as having evidence of spoilage.  Guess what flavors they were?

So how do we tell if it is fresh or not?  Normally manufacturers supply pre-flavored fish oil to third party groups.  Nordic Naturals is actually leading the industry by developing a procedure to allow flavored fish oil to be tested without false positives for spoilage.

In conclusion, when the headlines show misleading information, don’t believe it.  The study was flawed.

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An interesting read…

Very much why we exist:  the pendulum should not swing entirely one way or another.  We have science to provide us with answers to important questions like “Will X help me treat Y.”  It may be a natural remedy, it may be traditional.  In the end, all that matters is that it carries the greatest benefit with the lowest risk.

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This is great timing, as Village Apothecary and Woodstock Apothecary will be accredited Diabetes Education Centers in 2012.

Enjoy the read.

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Over the counter “Asthma” inhalers are now an endangered species, soon to be extinct.

The FDA will halt the sales of OTC inhalers as of Dec 31st, 2011.  This is part of the FDA’s latest efforts to remove CFC producing substances from the marketplace.

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A new emerging trend is in coconut water. Currently, it is a 200 million dollar industry.

Coconut water is basically natural Gatorade. It is a fluid that has a high concentration of electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium, and sodium. It also has a small amount of naturally occurring sugar, so like Gatorade and other sports drinks it has some calories.

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Many infectious diseases are spread in the air from person to person.

The flu, cold, and other respiratory illnesses are transmitted through droplets, or tiny bits of water and mucous that we release when we sneeze, cough, or even talk.  These droplets can travel as far as 6 feet away.

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This year there are 4 different ways for you to get a flu “shot”.  Three of them are injections, the last is a nasal spray.

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Here it is.

This is the USDA’s new direction for our health.  You know what, it’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not perfect.

Instead, look at Harvard’s modified edition…

More information, better proportions, and no dairy serving with each meal.

Where we would improve this even further:

• 0-1 caffeinated beverages daily
• specific water intake requirements:  64 ounces minimum, up to half your body weight in ounces otherwise
• even less grains and more protein (60-40 protein-grains)
• soy and canola oil are no-no’s.

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