Boston Bans Sale of Tobacco Products in Pharmacies
Boston, MA — The board of the Boston Public Health Commission approved banning the sale of tobacco products at health and educational institutions, including in pharmacies and on college and university campuses. The board also voted to expand smoking restrictions in the workplace to include adjacent areas such as patios and loading docks and to prohibit smoking in hotels, inns, and bed and breakfasts in Boston. "The board's actions will help reduce young people's exposure to tobacco products, and ensure that they are not exposed to products that make them sick when they to go places like pharmacies to get well," said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. Fines for violators range from $200 to $1,000.

WHO: Cancer Will Be Top Killer Worldwide by 2010
Atlanta, GA — According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is expected to overtake heart disease as the world's top killer by 2010. The number of global cancer deaths is projected to increase 45% by 2030, from 7.9 million deaths to 11.5 million. While the aging population is one reason for the dramatic increase, common risk factors such as an unhealthy lifestyle and exposure to occupational or environmental carcinogens, radiation, and some infections are all contributing factors to the rise in cancer mortality.

Phosphate Bowel Preparations to Get Black Box
Rockville, MD — The FDA announced it would add a "boxed warning" to the prescription oral sodium phosphate products Visicol and OsmoPrep to inform consumers about the risk of acute phosphate nephropathy. The products are used to cleanse the bowel before a colonoscopy and other medical procedures. The manufacturers of the two products have also been asked by the FDA to develop a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy and distribute a Medication Guide to alert patients to the risk of acute kidney injury associated with the use of these products.

Health-System Pharmacists Reducing Errors via Technology
Bethesda, MD — A survey conducted by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) revealed that there is a concerted effort by health-system pharmacists to reduce drug errors by embracing the implementation of improved technology in their hospitals. Results of the survey showed that nearly a quarter of hospitals use bar code medication administration, and 44% operate "smart" infusion pumps. About 12% of hospitals have adopted computerized prescriber order entry with clinical-decision support systems designed to help prescribers make better medicine selections. And while the survey showed that health-system pharmacies are moving toward implementing newer technology, it also showed that there is currently inadequate staff to implement and manage it. Only 36% of the hospitals who answered the survey reported they currently staff their pharmacy with IT personnel; most depend on their current pharmacy staff to manage their technology. Another third said they plan on hiring more pharmacy IT staff in the future.