Specialty RX Pharmacy Services

Spring 08' C a r i n g i s o u r S p e c i a l t y Providing Pharmaceutical Needs For Health Care Facilities. 1-866-SPECI-RX 209 East 11th Avenue, Roselle NJ 07203 www.specialtyrxltc. com

		THE FOCUS IS ON YOU at Specialty RX
		At Specialty RX we take pride in delivering personalized care, and quality pharmacy services. Our highly qualified staff strives to meet all your Facility’s needs. Our Administrator, Cindy van Voorst is a registered nurse with over 30 years of experience in the Long Term Care Industry twenty of those years as a Director of Nursing in skilled nursing facilities. She is very knowledgeable in meeting the needs of the Long-Term Care Industry. Our Pharmacist in Charge, Mr. Arnold Epstein, RPh, is a third generation pharmacist and has been a registered pharmacist for over twenty-five years twelve of those years as a Pharmacist in Charge. He provides our Pharmacy with a broad knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and strives for the highest level of accurate and timely delivery of pharmacy services. At Specialty RX our Quality Assurance Nurse, will be at your Facility to assist you with performing medication pass observations and unit inspections as needed and during the DOH State Survey. We specialize in ensuring that State and Federal DOH regulations are met with regards to the delivery system for dispensing packaging and storage of medications. We are aware of the industry's realities and always available to assist your nursing staff with education and training. We are happy to provide regular in-services which ultimately results in providing quality of care and cost containment. We understand that cost containment is the key, and this is why our Therapeutic Drug Interchange Program saves you money by interchanging "costly" medication with less expensive medications while still providing quality outcomes to the residents and never jeopardizing patient care. As far as paper work is concerned, we can deliver a customize documentation system and integrate E-MAR technology. We take pride in having a Computer Programmer on "site" to customize each Facilities specific service plan. We provide dependable drivers and stream line deliveries by using a state of the art bar code tracking and automated scanning technology with signature capture. With Specialty RX by your side, we tie the healthcare partners together the patient, physician, facility and the Pharmacy.


	PREVENTING DEADLY MIX UPS WITH SOUND-ALIKE DRUGS Quick: what's the difference between EDTA and EDTA? Stumped? How about edetate disodium and edetate calcium disodium? Both are abbreviated EDTA, and the results have been lethal. Edetate disodium is frequently administered in place of edentate calcium disodium in chelation therapies to treat lead poisoning. Edetate disodium is predominantly used to treat hypercalcemia, a condition in which there is too much calcium in the blood. Edetate disodium, when improperly administered, can be deadly. Because of the mix ups, the FDA is evaluating the necessity of keeping Edetate disodium on the shelves. While they do, they recommend that any hospital or commercial pharmacy that doesn't require Edetate disodium in stock constantly should eliminate it from its shelves, to prevent further confusion. At the same time, physicians should not prescribe the drug for the removal of heavy metals or toxins from the blood, for treating coronary heart disease, or for any other use not specifically mentioned on the label. When a prescription is indeed required, they should spell out the name completely and include a line about its intended use. Pharmacists should take extra care whenever an order for one of the drugs arrives, double checking that the correct label has been filled. By heightening awareness of the care needed when dealing with these look-alike sound-alike drugs, serious medical injuries can be avoided.		UNDERSTAFFED FACILITIES GO OVERBOARD IN USE OF ANTIPSYCHOTIC MEDS Many senior nursing home residents are being given antipsychotic drugs to subdue disruptive behavior in a practice known as “off-label” use of prescription drugs. These powerful medications are meant for those diagnosed as psychotic, and most of these seniors are definitely not. They may be suffering from Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia but they are not schizophrenic or bipolar, and these drugs carry dangerous side effects especially for the frail and elderly. This common practice, especially typical of nursing homes that are overburdened and short staffed, has recently come under fire from regulators, academics and patient advocates and many nursing homes have been cited for using these drugs in ways that violate federal laws. Antipsychotic drugs carry dangerous side effects especially for the frail and elderly. These drugs aren’t approved for use in treating dementia, therefore marketing them as such is illegal.


NEW WARNING ADDED TO MODAFINIL LABEL Modafinil (Provigil), a central nervous system stimulant use for treatment of sleep disorders, puts one at increased risk of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and other serious rashes and hypersensitivity reactions, and new labels will include a special warning. Jeffrey M. Dayno, M.D., vice president for medical services of Cephalon says that one should immediately discontinue taking modafinil at the first sign of a rash or other hypersensitivity reaction, revealing that a multi-organ hypersensitivity reaction in close association to the initiation of modafinil resulted in at least one fatality. He also reiterated that modafinil is not for pediatric use and that the drug can cause psychiatric symptoms including anxiety, hallucinations and suicidal ideation. ___________________ CONTAMINATED HEPARIN RESULTS IN FDA TESTING AT U.S. BORDER The FDA has recently identified a contaminant in multiple batches of heparin sold by Baxter International Inc., which has caused hundreds of allergic reactions since late December. Those batches were imported from a production plant in China, raising fears about the virtually unregulated Chinese drug making industry. As a result all shipments of heparin and other active ingredients used in blood thinners will be stopped at the US border to be tested for contaminants, if the drug makers haven’t done so on their own.
		FDA ADVISORY PANEL CALLS FOR NEW LIMITS ON CANCER PATIENTS' USE OF ANEMIA DRUGS FROM J & J AND AMGEN Due to safety concerns, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee has recommended that cancer patients with hope for recovery, as well as those with advanced breast cancer and head-and-neck cancer, should not be taking the anemia drugs sold as Procrit by J&J and Epogen and Aranesp by Amgen Inc. There has been growing evidence of potential risks for cancer patients taking the drugs, which are known as erythropoiesisstimulating agents, or ESAs. These products, approved by the FDA to boost red-blood-cell production in cancer patients whose anemia stems from chemotherapy, have been connected to shortened survival times and faster tumor growth, as well as a risk of blood clots, under certain circ u m s t a n c e s . Doctors should seek informed consent from cancer patients when they do prescribe these drugs. *There has been growing evidence of potential risks for cancer patients taking the drugs, known as erythropoiesisstimulating agents, or ESAs.*


209 East 11th Avenue, Roselle, NJ 07203 NEW YORK Phone: 718-205-1380 Fax: 718-205-1673 LONG ISLAND: Phone: 516-541-0156 Fax: 516-541-0846 NEW JERSEY: Phone: 908-241-6337 Fax: 908-241-6338
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ABOUT US Specialty RX is not a faceless corporation. Strategically located in Roselle, NJ we assist you in delivering the highest quality of care and services to your patients and residents. We provide Pharmacy Services to • Long Term Care Facilities • Assisted Living Communities • Adult Day Care Centers
Specialty RX is distinguished by its • Unparalleled customer service • Comprehensive cost containment program • Customized documentation technology • E-MAR software capability