Pharmacy Podcast Network

In March of 2020, we launched Beyond the Sig by hosting Randy McDonough, Director of Practice Transformation of Flip the Pharmacy, to discuss how the Flip the Pharmacy initiative was supporting pharmacies in practice transformation.   During this episode of Beyond the Sig, PPCN Executive Director Stephanie McGrath sits down with Randy virtually to reflect on the past year, how Flip the Pharmacy has supported pharmacies through the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlight some of the brightest innovations demonstrated by participating pharmacies. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nasir Mahmood is a remarkable pharmacy owner.  Indeed, so remarkable that the NCPA named him the winner of the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award.  And the list of honors and service he has provided to the profession and to his community justifies this high honor. In this podcast Nasir and his son, Rehan, Mahmood share with Kneeland the PharmacyCrossRoads listeners several of the personal philosophy and business practices that allow Pine Plains Pharmacy, in Pine Plains, New York to be such an important part of this small community halfway between New York City and Albany, NY.  Nasir, who also earned an MBA shared his view that knowing people, calling them by name and finding ways for the pharmacy to stock the special or unique items they want is one critical success factor.  While the pharmacy is small, just under 2000 sq. feet, he says they find ways to fit items into the pharmacy.  Adding to that idea is a robust special-order program where he says find his willingness to orders items an important customer service.  Rehan tells how he worked with suppliers, the city’s fire department and created an appointment system that allowed them to provide this small town with a successful, and ongoing, COVID vaccination program.  One heartfelt aspect of Nasir’s philosophy is giving back, thus he has served President and Chairman of the Pharmacist Society of the State of New York, winner of the Bowl of Hygiea Award, serves on the State Board of Pharmacy and is active in both NCPA and APhA.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Arrested Development  https://www.crxmag.com/issues/2021/winter/arrested-development.shtml The related research letter published in JAMA Psychiatry on 3/27/2019 titled; Association of Prenatal Cannabis Exposure With Psychosis Proneness Among Children in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.  Jeremy Fine is entering medical school this fall was a key contributor behind the creation of this research letter.  Association of Prenatal Cannabis Exposure With Psychosis Proneness Among Children in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2729440 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Description: Viagra, Crestor, Eliquis, and many other brand-name medications come to mind when the discussion turns to expensive drugs. These drugs are pocket change in comparison to Zolgensma, a new(ish) gene therapy for Spinal Muscular Atrophy that costs as much as a private island. Tune in as our hosts discuss this incredible drug and some of the ramifications of its incredible price tag. This is NOT your physician's podcast. Hosts Shane Garrettson and Cal Vandergrift dive into the pharmacy world with fun, interesting, and downright weird topics! Tune in for NEW episodes, available on Spotify, Apple, Anchor, and more! Check out our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages at Let's Pharmonize to view videos and images relevant to every episode! If you have any questions, comments, or even corrections, e-mail us at pharmonization@gmail.com. PLEASE READ: Shane and Cal are NOT medical professionals. DO NOT USE the information presented in this podcast to aid in your own personal health or medicinal benefit. This is a light-hearted podcast that should not be taken with the same seriousness as your own personal health, A special thanks to Kelly Kerr for creating the music used in the intro and outro. Additional music by FesliyanStudios See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of Beyond the Sig, third-year student pharmacist Brooke Kulusich chats with Eric Yarnell, Vice President of Pharmacy at Gateway Health. He brings both pharmacist and payer perspectives as a member of the Flip the Pharmacy Payer Advisory Board. In this conversation, Eric shares how Gateway Health has worked with a community pharmacy network to implement a patient care program and how community pharmacy enhanced services bring value to health plans. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Skippack Pharmacy has been leading mass COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the Schwenksville, Pennsylvania community and their efforts have gained national attention. You might recognize Skippack’s owner as the Superman pharmacist recently featured on Good Morning America. Today, we will hear from two members of the Skippack team, who have been working behind the scenes to help Skippack Pharmacy administer over 10,000 COVID-19 vaccines. On this episode of Beyond the Sig, third-year student pharmacist Brooke Kulusich chats with Skippack Pharmacy intern, Erica Mabry, and American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Chief of Governance & State Affiliates and Executive Director of the APhA Foundation, Mitch Rotholz, who is the policy lead for immunizations for the profession. They share their experiences working together to coordinate these clinics and their perspectives on the future of community pharmacy practice transformation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chapter 1 of 3  Featuring: Allegheny Health Network Pharmacy Services  AHN overview and history AHN Pharmacy Transformation – Patient – centered care planning Becoming one team Standardized practice / technology throughout all sites Guests: Laura (McCoy) Mark, PharmD - Vice President, Pharmacy Arpit Mehta, Pharm.D., MPH, MHA - Director of Pharmacy Kelley Wasicek, BS Pharm Director of Pharmacy Rob Simpson, PharmD  This podcast series is sponsored by Omnicell.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The cannabis industry won at the ballot box in the recent election, with four states passing laws to make cannabis legal for adults and two approving cannabis for medical purposes. These results moved the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) closer to its goal of building a robust cannabis industry while supporting state laws and advocating for federal policy reforms.    On November 3, 2020, voters in five states made a definitive statement about cannabis use. Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota approved adult use of cannabis. South Dakota also approved a medical initiative, along with Mississippi, which approved comprehensive cannabis medical options.   The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) has been working toward outcomes such as these since 2010. With 2,000 members nationwide, the organization is supporting the industry as cannabis becomes a thriving business and a real economic force. In recent years, NCIA has been a vocal advocate for social equity, working to promote expungement of criminal records of many people—largely from minority communities—who were unfairly incarcerated as part of the ill-conceived War on Drugs. The results of the initiatives in these five states illustrate how far the industry has come. The people have spoken, and their voice was definitive. “The margins were higher than we expected,” says Morgan Fox, spokesperson for NCIA. “In Arizona, there was a 60% margin, while the margin in New Jersey was 66%, 10 points higher than it was in California when it passed an adult use initiative in 2016. These results are not just political victories; they will likely have widespread ramifications. Importantly, it will be much more difficult for law enforcement to use cannabis as a weapon against minority populations. Instead, we will likely see more economic opportunities in the industry and fewer arrests overall.” Although there were differences among the measures passed, those that supported legalization all set 21 as the legal age for use. In New Jersey, the law requires that the state set a regulatory structure, along with limits for possession and homegrown cannabis plants. Arizona established the number of plants allowed at six, while South Dakota limited cultivation to three. The law in Arizona also stated that the Department of Health Services must promote business ownership and industry participation among people from communities who have been harmed by former cannabis policies. Furthermore, a portion of cannabis tax revenue will be set aside for the newly created Justice Reinvestment Fund.     To date, almost 34% of Americans live in states with laws establishing cannabis as legal and regulated for adults. Four of the five states that recently passed laws legalizing cannabis have been responsible for roughly 60,000 cannabis arrests each year, mostly for simple possession. On the economic side, researchers estimate that the combined value of the cannabis markets in these five states will climb to more than $3.1 billion by 2025. In states where cannabis is now legal, Congressional representation will increase by 29 representatives and eight senators. In sum, cannabis is now legal for adults in 15 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the territories of CNMI and Guam. What’s more, 36 states and several territories have comprehensive medical cannabis laws. Cannabis is now legal in some form in 47 states in the United States. Guests:  David L. Nathan, MD, DFAPA President, Board of Directors Doctors for Cannabis Regulation Abby Stoddard, PharmD, MBA  The Client Centered Network www.clientcn.com  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Opioids play a critical role in managing cancer-associated pain, but they’re highly addictive, and they don’t always provide sufficient pain relief for cancer patients. Many patients therefore turn to cannabis or cannabis-derived products to help manage their pain, using them either as standalone treatments or as an adjuvant therapy to opioids. But does research support cannabis use for this purpose? The evidence is mixed, and some studies suggest there may indeed be benefits for cancer pain—but there’s also reason for caution. How Much Research Is There? There’s a relatively strong body of research on cannabis for the treatment of chronic pain generally, according to Eloise Theisen, RN, MSN, president of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and co-founder of Radicle Health, a cannabis education and advocacy organization. However, much of this research has focused on neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, and comparatively few studies have examined pain in the cancer context. Among the studies that exist for cancer, many have small sample sizes, and study design is also an issue. “We have animal studies and some clinical human studies,” says Theisen, but there’s “a lack of randomized controlled trials, which are considered to be the gold standard.” A further complicating factor in the research on cannabis and cancer pain is that most of the existing studies on this topic have relied on products that do not match those cancer patients actually use in practice. According to Hance Clarke, MD, PhD, associate professor of anesthesia at the University of Toronto and author of a recent review article on cannabis and pain,1 the products that have been studied most extensively are pharmaceutical-grade cannabis isolates, such as nabiximols (an extract containing THC and CBD in a precise one-to-one ratio), nabilone (synthetic THC), and dronabinol (also synthetic THC). However, cancer patients outside of the research context are much more likely to use dispensary cannabis and non-pharmaceutical-grade plant-based extracts. “We’re kind of stuck without enough evidence on the products that people are currently using,” says Clarke. This is important, because patients may react quite differently to a dispensary product than to a pharmaceutical product, according to Clarke. Guests:  Eloise Theisen, MSN, RN, is a board certified Adult Geriatric Nurse Practitioner who specializes in cannabis therapy. For over 20 years, Eloise has worked primarily with cancer, dementia and chronic pain patients. In the last several years, Eloise has focused her efforts on cannabinoid therapies. Eloise was one of the first healthcare professionals to bring a clinical dosing regimen to the cannabis space. In 2019, Eloise was elected President of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and will serve through 2022. In 2019, Eloise co-authored Pain Free with CBD: Everything You Need to Know and Effectively Use Cannabidiol with Alice O’Leary Randall.    Joe Jeffries, Pharm D is currently Director of Pharmacy at FarmaceuticalRx, a medical cannabis dispensary in East Liverpool Ohio. Joe is the former Director of Pharmacy at Barnesville Hospital and was named the Healthcare Worker of the Year, largely for his creation of a program to help those struggling with drug addiction. Joe was also President of the Ohio Pharmacists Association from 2000-2001.  Host:  Joseph Friedman  CannaRPh Consultants CRx Magazine Advisory Board, CRx Podcast  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Behnaz Sarrami, MS, PharmD, a PGx for pharmacists podcast, joins Cari Lalande, PharmD where we discuss the clinical value and utility of PGx and how it can be implemented in a clinical setting. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices