Pharmacy

Plavix, the brand name for the blood-thinning drug taken by millions of people with heart disease to avoid heart attacks and strokes, will soon be on pharmacy shelves in generic form. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval to the generic versions this week. Plavix, whose generic name is clopidogrel, was made and marketed through a partnership of Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. It had U.S. sales of about $6.7 billion for the 12 months ending March 31, 2012, according to IMS Health.

A female employee of a Rite Aid pharmacy in Northeast Philadelphia was wounded by a gun blast yesterday during a robbery in which three men stole an undetermined amount of narcotics. The police said the assailants entered the pharmacy at 4018 Woodhaven Rd., around 10:30 a.m. and forced two members of the staff to the back of the store. A robber then fired a shotgun blast into the floor, causing ricocheting pellets to hit one of the employees in the face and arm. The assailants tied up the employees and fled.

When Philadelphia Pharmacy made its first and only trip to the national 32- team NAIA Tournament in Kansas City two years ago, the Blue Devils realistically had no shot. They were paired against second-seeded Wisconsin Eau-Claire, which would eventually reach the finals. And not surprisingly, Pharmacy lost that first- round matchup, 75-51. But this time, things are different. This season the NAIA has added a 20-team Division II tournament, for smaller schools such as Pharmacy.

A local coaching legend has decided to call it quits. Bob Morgan, who for 31 years has guided the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Sciences/University of Sciences men's basketball team, has decided to resign effective immediately. Dave Pauley, Morgan's assistant for 19 years, will take over as head coach. Morgan, 64, cited no health problems nor any other major factors in making his decision. "I don't think there's any right time to step down," he said. "There's no mandatory retirement or anything like that.

A MAN WHO robbed a pharmacy in Juniata Park Tuesday morning was recorded on a surveillance camera, and police posted the footage online in the hope that help from the public might lead to an arrest. About 8:05 a.m., the man walked into the Pharmacy of America, pulled a large knife on the clerk and demanded that he open the register, police said. The suspect took $80 in cash and was last seen running south on O Street toward Kensington Avenue, police said. He is described as a dark-skinned black man, between 45 and 55 years old. He is cleanshaven, about 6 feet and about 300 pounds.

Six employees of a pharmacy were sickened yesterday, apparently after a vial of a drug used in the treatment of cystic fibrosis was broken, causing its contents to be spread through the store's air-conditioning system, authorities said. Fire Chief Dennis Forsythe of the Newtown Fire Company said firefighters were summoned to Eckerd Drugs at the Village at Newtown shopping center on Route 532 at 10:30 a.m., after store employees reported the odor of rubber burning. A check proved negative, and the firefighters left.

A man suspected of robbing three Bucks County pharmacies of prescription drugs at knifepoint is in custody, police say. Peter Romagano, 28, of the 2700 block of Stanwood Lane, in Bensalem, has been charged with robbing a drug store in the township twice, once on Oct. 25 and again in Nov. 21, police said. Romagano also is expected to be charged with robbing pharmacies in Lower Southampton and Warminster on Nov. 2 and Nov. 21, respectively, police said. Bensalem police arrested him Thursday after a joint investigation by the local authorities and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

Residents said the development would not match the area's bucolic character. And now township officials considering the proposed CVS pharmacy at North Wales and Township Line Roads have agreed. The township Zoning Hearing Board Monday night rejected a bid by developers to build the pharmacy amid the large, wooded properties along North Wales Road. The 3-0 vote received a standing ovation by the crowd of about 50 residents. "It's a terrible approach to the township," said Walter Schlosser, who lives on North Wales Road near the property.

When Eric Zimmerman graduates in 2008, chances are he'll get exactly what he wants. A good job working with patients. A starting annual salary of $85,000 to $100,000. And a title that commands a lot of respect: Doctor. But by the time Zimmerman, 23, of Pennsauken in Camden County, finishes his studies, he won't be an M.D. He'll be a "PharmD," a doctor of pharmacy. He will enter a changing world, one in which pharmacists are disengaging from their traditional role of pill-dispensers and moving toward counseling patients and working closely with physicians, even giving flu and pneumonia shots.

Former inmates and their families had told Gloucester County Sheriff James N. Hogan about the jumble in the pharmacy of the county jail in Woodbury. But when Hogan inspected the pharmacy shortly after taking office in January, things were worse than he feared. Capsules were strewn across the floors and table tops. Cabinets that contained dangerous drugs were left unlocked and open. Employees' lunches were stored alongside medication in the refrigerators. There were no accurate records of what drugs had been purchased or dispensed.

Man arrested in fatal stabbing * 19th Street near Bainbridge A 43-year-old West Philadelphia man was arrested in the fatal stabbing of Shawn Andrews, 41, whose bloodied body was found stuffed inside his bedroom closet on Saturday. Police said that an argument prompted John M. Smallwood to repeatedly stab Andrews, however police were unsure of what the men were arguing over. There were no signs of forced entry at Andrews' apartment. Detectives arrested Smallwood, of Irving Street near 60th, on Wednesday and charged him with murder, possession of an instrument of crime and tampering with evidence.

A Skippack man was arrested Friday in connection with an armed robbery in January at a pharmacy on Ridge Pike in Lower Providence, police said. Morrison Vo, 20, of Annandale Drive, was charged with robbery and related offenses by Lower Providence police and troopers from the Skippack barracks of the Pennsylvania State Police. Vo was taken into custody without incident. Shortly after 10 p.m. Jan. 17, police said, Vo entered the Walgreens Pharmacy in the 2900 block of Ridge Pike with a gun, demanding that employees open a safe in the manager's office.

A MAN WHO robbed a pharmacy in Juniata Park Tuesday morning was recorded on a surveillance camera, and police posted the footage online in the hope that help from the public might lead to an arrest. About 8:05 a.m., the man walked into the Pharmacy of America, pulled a large knife on the clerk and demanded that he open the register, police said. The suspect took $80 in cash and was last seen running south on O Street toward Kensington Avenue, police said. He is described as a dark-skinned black man, between 45 and 55 years old. He is cleanshaven, about 6 feet and about 300 pounds.

AS SATURDAY'S funeral for Whitney Houston nears, there's still a fair amount of breaking news: * The Los Angeles County coroner's office has issued subpoenas for medical and pharmacy records from Whitney's doctors and medical providers. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said that the request is made in virtually all death investigations because such records can shed light on how people died and whether they had any serious medical conditions. "We've already contacted a number of doctors with requests for records," he said.

A man suspected of robbing three Bucks County pharmacies of prescription drugs at knifepoint is in custody, police say. Peter Romagano, 28, of the 2700 block of Stanwood Lane, in Bensalem, has been charged with robbing a drug store in the township twice, once on Oct. 25 and again in Nov. 21, police said. Romagano also is expected to be charged with robbing pharmacies in Lower Southampton and Warminster on Nov. 2 and Nov. 21, respectively, police said. Bensalem police arrested him Thursday after a joint investigation by the local authorities and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

In the last four years, Jim Reginelli, an independent pharmacist, has watched the number of prescriptions his stores fill drop by 30 percent. He chose his profession after developing a close relationship with his neighborhood pharmacist as a boy while picking up prescriptions for his father, who had multiple myeloma. Now 45, Reginelli wants to give that kind of personal service to customers at his four stores, the best known of which is Nisenholtz Pharmacy in the Northeast. He thinks a relationship with a pharmacist increases the odds that patients will take their medications correctly and avoid dangerous interactions.

CAMP HILL, Pa. - Drugstore operator Rite Aid Corp. said Thursday that its sales improved in October as revenue at its pharmacy counters increased. The company said its total sales grew 2.8 percent to $1.96 billion from $1.91 billion. The results cover the four-week period that ended Oct. 22. Sales at stores open at least a year grew 2.9 percent. At those stores, pharmacy revenue rose 3.6 percent, and sales of nonpharmacy items like food and cosmetics increased 1.3 percent. Prescriptions filled at those stores rose 1.3 percent.

Anthony P. Sorrentino, 73, of Drexel Hill, a hospital pharmacist and educator, died of pneumonia Saturday, Sept. 24, at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. From 1978 until retiring in 1996, Dr. Sorrentino was assistant director for outpatient pharmacy services and manager of the Jefferson Apothecary at Jefferson hospital. Not only was he valued for his care of hospital patients, but his colleagues in administration, research, medicine, and nursing all considered him their pharmacist, his son, Tony, said.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. said today it agreed to buy TheraCom L.L.C., which supplies consulting and reimbursement services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, for $250 million. TheraCom is a unit of drugstore operator and pharmacy benefits provider CVS Caremark Corp. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year. AmerisourceBergen, Valley Forge, is a distributor of pharmaceuticals.    -Paul Schweizer

The president of Thomas Jefferson University, Robert L. Barchi, said Wednesday that he will step down at the end of his current term in June 2012. He will have served eight years in the job. Barchi, 64, will take a year-long sabbatical, then become a full-time member of the Jefferson faculty. The university, which focuses on medicine and science, includes schools of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, population health and health professions such as occupational and physical therapy.