Sept. 06--Running a small pharmacy in a world of big chain-store competitors is tough. Jeff Hill, owner of Valley Prescription and Compounding Pharmacy in Merced, knows just how tough it is. Hill, who has been a pharmacist since 1972, bought the little 13th Street pharmacy in June 2009.

Read more: Pharmacy takes a step back to the past

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement issued today by National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, and National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) Acting Executive Vice President and CEO Douglas Hoey, RPh, regarding the proposed rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that would withdraw existing provisions of the Medicaid pharmacy reimbursement formula under the average manufacturer price (AMP) model:"We are pleased that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a rule that would withdraw provisions of what is known as the Medicaid average manufacturer price (AMP) rule. Put simply, all of these provisions relate to the reimbursement to pharmacies for generic Medicaid prescriptions, and thus impact patients' access to pharmacies.

Read more: NACDS, NCPA: Victory for Patients, Pharmacy as CMS Moves to Withdraw Provisions of 'AMP' Rule Currently Blocked by Injunction

DEERFIELD, Ill. - Walgreen Co. reported same-store-sales rose 2.1 percent for August on Friday, just shy of Wall Street estimates.Such sales are considered a key measurement of retailer health because they exclude results from stores that have been acquired, opened or closed over the last year. The sales figure doesn't don't include Duane Reade, which was acquired in April.

Read more: Walgreen August same-store sales rise 2.1 percent

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Community Pharmacists Association today announced the launch of a new website, www.PharmacyMatching.com to bring together independent pharmacy owners preparing to sell their pharmacy, existing owners who desire additional stores and entrepreneurs searching for the right opportunity to become a pharmacy owner."Now more than ever, the future of community pharmacy depends on the successful transition of ownership to independent owners," said NCPA President and Arlington, TX pharmacy owner Joseph H. Harmison, PD. "NCPA wants to be independent pharmacy's source for matching buyers and sellers to keep independents independent.""CVS isn't trying to save community pharmacies, but rather eliminate competition," Harmison continued.

Read more: NCPA Launches www.PharmacyMatching.com to Connect Independent Pharmacy Buyers and Sellers

PharMerica Corporation (NYSE: PMC), a national provider of institutional pharmacy and hospital pharmacy management services, today announced that Barry A. Schepp has joined the Company as Senior Vice President of Sales. Prior to joining PharMerica, Mr. Schepp was Vice President Sales, Marketing and Business Development for Long Beach, New York-based Chem Rx Corporation, the third largest long-term care pharmacy in the United States. Such forward-looking statements are based upon information currently available to us and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company's actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements.

Read more: PharMerica Names Barry A. Schepp Senior Vice President of Sales

Sept. 05--In the quarter century since their introduction to Japan in 1974, convenience stores have become such a fixture that it is hard to imagine life without them. Passing department stores in sales by 2008, outlets now number more than 40,000 throughout Japan. However, this was the first rise in sales in 14 months and the average amount spent has fallen for 20 months in a row year on year.

Read more: EDITORIAL: Evolving convenience stores

There are no less than five pharmacies on Union Avenue from Cooper to Cleveland. Continuing a longstanding economic development policy of "anything goes," the Memphis City Council voted Aug. 24 to ignore the decisions of the Office of Planning and Development the Land Use Control Board and give the green light to a plan by the CVS drugstore chain to raze the Union Avenue United Methodist Church building at Union and Cooper and build a pharmacy.This store, which will be directly across Cooper from an Ike's/ Walgreens pharmacy, is part of CVS Caremark's plan to build at least six stores in the Memphis area.

Read more: A view from the editorial board / CVS deal has many unsettling facets

The new community pharmacy think-tankIt might not have been plain sailing so far but big pharma and pharmacy can make a happy couple. Manufacturers view pharmacists as key to their goal of ensuring patients get the best out of their products, says Senator Steve Poulton, Pfizer commercial director.

Read more: CPD ZONE: C+D Senate

As pharmacy gears up for the transfer of regulation, the GPhC has confirmed that its new corporate strapline will be "Upholding standards and public trust in pharmacy". The words have been chosen because they encapsulate the impact that the GPhC is aiming to have in the world of pharmacy, rather than what happens at 129 Lambeth Road.As an independent regulator, the GPhC has the added advantage that it can offer assurance to back up public trust.

Read more: DUNCAN RUDKIN: Upholding standards and trust in pharmacy

Community pharmacists save healthcare systems hundreds of millions of pounds a year by giving patients health advice over the counter, an international pharmacy conference has heard.According to a survey of 197 pharmacists in Finland, pharmacists helped avoid 6.2 million visits to a GP and 750,000 emergency visits a year by offering advice, improving adherence and correcting errors.Pharmacists also helped slash prescription numbers by 2.6 million a year and prevented 123,000 inpatient nights in hospital in Finland, the conference of the International Pharmaceutical Federation in Lisbon heard on Wednesday.

Read more: Pharmacies save pounds 460m in advice, Finnish study finds