Pharmacy Business

MINNEAPOLIS -- Cub Pharmacies, operated by Supervalu, Inc. here, donated 750 pre-paid, 60-minute calling cards to more than 4,000 Army National Guard troops at Camp Shelby, Miss., who are training for their March 2006 deployment to Southeast Asia.

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Price Chopper Supermarkets/Golub Corp. said yesterday that Kathleen Bryant had been promoted to director of pharmacy operations, and Mark Chandler had been hired as v.p. of supply chain integration.

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Even hurricanes Katrina and Rita were not strong enough to stop Publix's sales growth for the third quarter of 2005, which reached approximately $4.9 billion -- a 5.7 percent increase from last year's $4.6 billion.

Looking ahead to persistent shortages of skilled personnel, Schnucks and Brookshire Bros. are trying robotic prescription dispensers to keep service levels up to snuff.

HOUSTON -- Regional retailer H.E. Butt Grocery Co. here is joining forces with Hartford, Conn.-based health insurance provider Aetna to market a new, co-branded Medicare Part D prescription drug plan at HEB stores with in-store pharmacies in Texas, the companies said yesterday.

DENVER -- King Soopers said Friday that it has agreed to pay $7 million to settle claims by the U.S. Attorney for Colorado that the Kroger Co.-owned grocer might have failed to adequately guard controlled substances in its stores from theft, in compliance with the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, otherwise known as the Controlled Substance Act.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Spurred by concerns about the potential effect of Medicaid budget cuts on health care, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) and the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) said yesterday that they had created the Coalition for Meaningful Medicaid Reform (CMMR). A series of ads that begins running today reflects the group's desire for "meaningful changes to Medicaid."

LANDOVER, Md. -- Giant Food, LLC and Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna HealthCare have agreed to co-brand Cigna's Cignature Rx Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan and collaborate on co-sponsored educational communications for distribution in Giant pharmacies.