October is American Pharmacists Month! In honor of all those who provide life-saving therapeutics to ensure the public health, we’re posting a 3-part series profiling heroes who made history with their enormous contributions to the pharmaceutical industry. We begin with Henry Banting, a Canadian medical scientist, physician, and Nobel laureate who developed the extraction of insulin into a practical treatment for...

Written by SmartSense | October 1, 2019 | Pharmacy Safety

There was once a large grocery chain with over 1,000 retail locations who wanted to improve its business. Competition was growing, labor costs were increasing, and they needed to operate more intelligently than they had previously. Leadership was frustrated with the limited visibility they had into store operations. Management was frustrated with the time employees spent on routine, non-customer facing activities....

Written by SmartSense | September 25, 2019 | Pharmacy Safety, Food Safety, Connected Facility, Supply Chain

Of all best practices for the storage and handling of pharmaceuticals, perhaps none is more crucial than temperature monitoring. As complex chemical and biological products, medications can easily be rendered impotent – even toxic – when subject to excursions outside of their prescribed temperature range. Even the simplest products are rarely unaffected by extremes of heat or cold.

Written by SmartSense | August 8, 2019 | Pharmacy Safety

As the FDA increases regulations to ensure consumer protections, expectations for pharmaceutical quality are playing a greater role for all stakeholders in the supply chain, from manufacturers and suppliers to pharmacies and clinics. Patients in need of medications rightfully expect that their prescriptions will be safe and effective, since consumers are unable to detect contamination in drugs as they might, say in...

Written by SmartSense | July 23, 2019 | Pharmacy Safety, Supply Chain

If you had to nominate only one federal agency that most effectively protects America’s wellbeing, few would argue with choosing the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC). Whether diseases start in the U.S. or overseas, the CDC’s “24/7 mission” is to fight them with critical science, provide information to citizens, and thereby safeguard communities against dangerous health threats.

Written by SmartSense | July 3, 2019 | Pharmacy Safety

Although vaccination has recently become a subject of dubious controversy, overwhelming scientific evidence has proven that immunization is one of the most cost-effective and successful health interventions developed over the last 50 years. Since their discovery and implementation, vaccines have reduced illness and disability from a host of diseases, prevented 2.5 million deaths a year, lowered the worldwide...

Written by SmartSense | June 19, 2019 | Pharmacy Safety