Top 10 Trending Pharmacy Stories of 2015

Here are the top trending pharmacy stories you may have missed this year:

#10. What to Know About “Female Viagra” Approved by FDA

This year, the FDA approved Sprout Pharmaceuticals’ flibanserin (Addyi), the first treatment for female sexual dysfunction.

Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) is estimated to affect 7.7% to 14% of premenopausal women in the United States, or 5.5 to 8.6 million individuals.

FDA panels previously rejected new drug applications for the HSDD treatment in September 2013 and February 2014, but Sprout returned with additional data on the drug, leading to a favorable FDA panel opinion on June 4, 2015.

Some have described the pink pill as a female counterpart to the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil (Viagra).

#9. Top 5 Pharmacy Drive-Thru Debacles

Working at the pharmacy drive-thru is a retail rite of passage.

There’s no question that it can be challenging, hectic, and, depending on how the winter weather is where you work, extremely chilly. It definitely requires an extra measure of patience.

Over the years, retail pharmacists have shared many tales from the drive-thru. As homage to those who man the window day in and day out, we complied this list of the top 5 drive-thru clogging acts that frustrate even the most unflappable pharmacist.

#8. Walmart Slapped with Pharmacist Class Action Suit

Fed up with alleged unpaid overtime and missed rest periods, a Walmart pharmacist fought back against the retail giant with a class action suit this year.

Afrouz Nikmanesh, who worked at Walmart from 2003 to 2014, claimed that the corporation violated California labor laws by not paying her and other pharmacists for the time they spent in class studying for and taking the American Pharmacists Association’s Immunization Training programs, according to Lawyers and Settlements.

Nikmanesh said the training was “directly related” to pharmacists’ duties, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit represents all US pharmacists who worked at a Walmart pharmacy within the last 4 years.

#7. 25 Rx-Related Pharmacy Pick Up Lines

Even when pick up lines are horrendously bad, they are still good—or at least guaranteed to get a chuckle.

What inspired this list of 25 favorites was an after-work dinner party where everyone shared their best pharmacy pick up lines.

#6. 8 Famous Figures with Pharmacy Pasts

Did you know that Agatha Christie and Chris Hemsworth have a history in pharmacy?

This list details the pharmacy pasts of these famous figures and 6 others between their times.

#5. 13 Responses to Repeated Requests for Early Narcotic Refills

Community pharmacists practice in a uniquely challenging setting. They care for patients who have serious diseases and chronic conditions, but in a sense, they stand between them and their medication.

Such a privilege and responsibility should not be taken lightly. As ethical and compassionate professionals, community pharmacists must use all available resources to help patients in any way that they can.

However, pharmacists are often confronted with individuals who want to misuse or divert drugs. How can a pharmacist differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate early narcotic refill requests?

#4. 22 Pharmacists, Doctors Arrested in DEA’s Drug Abuse Crackdown

This year, 22 pharmacists and doctors were arrested in the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) largest-ever operation aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse.

The 15-month “Operation Pilluted” targeted areas in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and a total of 280 people were arrested on charges related to illegal pharmaceutical trafficking activities, the DEA stated in a press release.

The focus of the operation was to uncover those involved in distributing and prescribing substances such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, and Xanax.

As a result of the operation, 51 vehicles, 202 weapons, and about $404,000 in cash was seized, and 73 seizure warrants led to a seizure of about $11.6 million, plus $6.7 million in real property.

#3. Fired Pharmacist with Needle Phobia Wins $2.6 Million Verdict

A needle-fearing Rite Aid pharmacist who had been fired for refusing to attend mandatory immunization training received $2.6 million for his troubles in 2015.

A New York federal jury sided with Christopher Stevens, who has trypanophobia, after he was fired in 2011 for refusing to go to the training, which was primarily for administering flu shots. On January 22, 2015, the jury found Rite Aid violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the state’s Human Rights Act, Law360 reported.

Stevens was awarded $1.2 million in front pay, $485,000 in back pay, and $900,000 in pecuniary damages.

#2. Facebook Rant Puts Pharmacist in Hot Water

A pharmacist who posted derogatory comments about a customer on social media came under investigation by the National Health Service in 2015.

In a Facebook post, Charles Shanks of Calder Pharmacy described a woman who came in to pick up a pain reliever for her father as a “total retard,” according to The Mirror.

The unidentified 53-year-old woman told The Mirror that she waited 40 minutes at the pharmacy to pick up medications for her father, who is battling cancer. After she left the store, she realized she had not received her father’s pain medication, so she went back to Calder Pharmacy to inquire about the missing pills.

The woman explained that her father had few pain relievers left back at home, which is why she was especially concerned. Shanks said he did not have the pain relievers and gave her no further explanation.

#1. Common Antibiotic Combination Causes Sudden Death

Now and again, a study comes along that changes how health care professionals think about prescribing.

Research published in the British Medical Journal in 2015 implicated trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole as a cause for increased risk of sudden death in specific populations.

This particular study gathered data for more than 17 years and included patients aged 66 years or older who were being treated with either an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) and then suddenly died within 7 or 14 days of starting treatment as an outpatient with an oral antibiotic.

Of the more than 1.5 million patients included in the study, nearly 40,000 died suddenly after beginning oral antibiotic treatment. The results showed that, in this specific patient population, 3 of every 1000 individuals taking either ACE inhibitors or ARBs who then begin treatment with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole will die suddenly within 7 to 14 days.