Below are 10 of the top pharmacy stories published by Becker's Hospital Review in September, beginning with the most popular:
1. DEA raids some West Coast Kaiser Permanente pharmacies
Federal narcotics agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration raided several Kaiser Permanente pharmacies along the West Coast Sept. 18.
2. How CVS, Walgreens and Walmart's health-focused stores compare
CVS Health, Walgreens and Walmart all have announced plans to invest more in face-to-face healthcare.
3. Fired Kaiser pharmacist agrees to 12-year sentence for secretly recording co-workers
A former pharmacist from Kaiser Permanente has pleaded guilty to charges of using hidden cameras to secretly record his co-workers. As part of a plea agreement, he will serve a 12-year prison sentence.
4. Cigna rolls out plan to fully cover expensive gene therapies
Health insurer Cigna introduced a plan Sept. 5 to fully cover the cost of expensive gene therapy treatments for patients.
5. Purdue Pharma files for bankruptcy
Embattled OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 15.
6. FDA flags cancer-causing impurity in common heartburn drugs
The FDA is warning patients and healthcare providers that some ranitidine medicines, common heartburn drugs, contain a potentially cancer-causing impurity.
7. Carcinogen concerns prompt Sandoz to halt global distribution of heartburn drug
Sandoz, the generic arm of Novartis, is stopping worldwide distribution of its heartburn medicine that contains high levels of a cancer-causing impurity.
8. Another drugmaker halts heartburn drug shipments due to carcinogen
India's Dr. Reddy's Laboratories is the latest drugmaker to stop distribution of ranitidine, the generic version of Zantac, after a potential cancer-causing impurity was found in the drug.
9. Dwindling US heparin supply linked to swine fever outbreak in China
A swine fever outbreak in China that has killed millions of pigs has led to a dwindling supply of a common blood thinner in the U.S.
10. AHA: UnitedHealth report on steep specialty drug costs lets drugmakers off the hook
The American Hospital Association has called UnitedHealth's recent report on specialty drug spending in hospitals and independent practices "flawed," arguing that the authors fail to account for critical differences between care settings and fail to consider that drugmakers are the "chief culprit" in rising drug costs.
More articles on pharmacy:
World Pharmacist Day promotes use of safe and effective medicines
USP delays release of updated compounding standards
Americans pay up to 67 times more for drugs than other countries.