Record Number of drugstore.com Customers Search for Bargains

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: May 14,2009

Money-saving customers shop instant online coupons, sales and earn 5% ‘cash back’ with the drugstore.com dollars(TM) program

drugstore.com, inc., a leading online retailer of health, beauty, vision, and pharmacy products, is experiencing a dramatic increase, up more than 75% in the past year, in the number of consumers visiting its coupon, sale and clearance pages for non-prescription health and beauty products. The number of orders coming from customers searching for bargains is up more than 90% year-over-year.

“We see more and more consumers looking for ways to save money on products they use every day, and drugstore.com is focused on finding new ways to offer even more value. In fact we just lowered prices on more than 2,000 products,” said David Lonczak, vice president, chief marketing officer, drugstore.com. “Since the beginning of the year, we’ve also seen more customers taking advantage of our drugstore.com dollars(TM) program, one of the highest value customer loyalty programs in the industry, offering 5% back toward a future purchase.”

Strong growth in the number of new customers and a loyal base of repeat customers contributed to drugstore.com reporting the highest net revenue in company history during the first quarter of 2009.

drugstore.com offers a number of simple money-saving perks to customers shopping its wide selection of more than 45,000 products, from leading brands to hard-to-find items for health, beauty, household, baby, green & natural, pets, and much more.

  • Free Shipping on most orders – Minimum purchase of $25 for new customers or $49 for repeat customers, or buy an item that always ships free.
  • drugstore.com dollars(TM) – Customers automatically earn 5% cash back for every eligible product purchased during a calendar quarter, the highest percentage in the industry. Customers may use their credit toward a purchase in the month following the quarter.
  • Instant ‘Click and Save’ Coupons – Usually valued from $1 to $10 or more, drugstore.com is a leader in developing online coupons from leading manufacturers. Customers simply ‘click and save’ instantly. No printing. No paper. After the customer clicks the ‘buy’ button, the item is automatically added to their shopping cart.
  • Shop Prestige Beauty and save on shipping – Partner site, Beauty.com, carries a large selection of prestige beauty brands. Shop drugstore.com and Beauty.com together, and your order will be shipped in one box.
  • Gifts with Purchase and free samples from favorite brands on drugstore.com and Beauty.com.

For details and more perks visit http://www.drugstore.com/customerperks.

In addition to easy ways to save, drugstore.com provides information to help shoppers make informed purchase decisions. There are hundreds of thousands of unfiltered customer product reviews on the site, informative videos, and detailed product information, including ingredients and directions.

Customers can shop 24 hours a day, seven days a week from the comfort and privacy of their own home with the benefit of home delivery. They may take advantage of many convenient features such as Auto Delivery to have items automatically delivered every 30, 45, 60, 90 or 180 days or order from Your List, a convenient list of previous purchases. The online store also features shopping guides, an FSA-only store for customers with flexible spending health accounts, product comparisons, and additional product content


Americans for Insurance Reform (AIR) has released 14 new “fact sheets” covering various medical malpractice and tort issues that may be part of discussions by Congress and the Administration in developing national health care proposals. The “fact sheets” together support the view that the legal rights of injured patients should be preserved and that any weakening of those rights will unfairly burden malpractice victims. They also show that eliminating medical malpractice claims will result in negligible health care savings while increasing errors and their costs.

Joanne Doroshow, AIR co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Justice & Democracy, said, “AIR and patients’ rights advocates favor guaranteed health insurance coverage to help anyone in need of medical care. However, provision of such care should never be accomplished by taking away the right to trial by jury for someone legitimately injured, or reducing the accountability of any hospital or provider that endangers patients. We hope these fact sheets will be helpful to anyone examining this issue.”

The fact sheets are titled as follows:

  • Insurance Industry’s Investment Practices – Not The Legal System – Cause High Malpractice Insurance Costs;
  • Costs Of The Current Medical Malpractice System Are Much Lower Than People Think;
  • The Defensive Medicine Myth;
  • Health Courts Are Unconstitutional;
  • Health Courts And Other Alternative Systems Are Intolerably Unfair To Injured Patients;
  • The Significant Costs Of Alternative Systems;
  • The Problem With Medical Malpractice Is The Amount Of Malpractice Itself;
  • Far From Being “Broken,” The Current Medical Malpractice System Works Well;
  • Litigation Improves Patient Safety And Establishes Responsibility For Errors;
  • Fear Of Litigation Is Not Why Doctors Fail To Report Errors Or Communicate With Their Patients;
  • Juries V. Cost Savings – An Unacceptable Trade-Off;
  • Eliminating Juries Means Few Cases Will Settle;
  • Lowering Insurance Costs For Doctors Requires Insurance Industry Reform;
  • A Critical Patient Safety Solution: Remove Or Sanction The Small
  • Number Of Bad Doctors Committing Most Malpractice.

AIR is a coalition of public interest organizations from around the country that seek stronger oversight over property/casualty insurance industry practices. It is a project of the Center for Justice & Democracy, a national consumer organization.

For more information and for copies of these fact sheets, see http://insurance-reform.org/. or http://centerjd.org/.

Source: Americans for Insurance Reform


Monteris Medical Earns 510(k) Clearance for AutoLITT(TM)

An MRI-guided laser surgery method, in investigational use at both The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, holds promise for thousands of brain tumor patients and has earned clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in neurosurgery. The first applications of the technology are expected to be for the treatment of otherwise inoperable brain tumors.

The AutoLITT System uses an MRI-guided laser probe, passed through a small bur hole in the skull, to deliver laser interstitial thermal therapy (“LITT”) to heat and coagulate the tumor from the inside. High-intensity laser energy is applied directly to the tumor, rather than passing through normal tissue, while the MRI measures the temperature inside the brain, showing thermal damage as it happens and facilitating precise control of the treatment. Once coagulated, the treated tumor mass is dead.

“The AutoLITT procedure delivers new-found hope for patients who have previously been given limited options in the treatment of their tumors,” explains James Duncan, president and CEO of Monteris Medical, the AutoLITT manufacturer. The system offers a potential option for patients with tumors that are too difficult or too risky to treat, tumors that don’t respond to other treatments, and tumors in patients that are otherwise not good candidates for surgery or radiosurgery.

Source: Monteris Medical Inc.


Roche Announces Long-Term Commitment to Tackle Growing Epidemic of Diabetes

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: May 13,2009

Roche announces wide array of ACCU-CHEK programs centered around Behavior Change through Patient Engagement (SM), including tools for better self-care.

Roche, the maker of ACCU-CHEK blood glucose monitoring systems and insulin pumps, announced its long-term commitment to tackle the growing epidemic of diabetes by its Behavior Change through Patient Engagement (SM) program – a wide array of educational programs and tools that promote more effective self-care.

“As the world leader in diabetes diagnostics, we have a responsibility to provide solutions that overcome a critical gap in diabetes management,” said Head of Roche Diabetes Care North America Luc Vierstraete. “Traditional diabetes management tends to focus on telling people with diabetes what to do but that, by itself, doesn’t necessarily fully engage patients. Our initiative, Behavior Change through Patient Engagement, is all about helping patients take an active role in their diabetes self-care. We know that keeping patients engaged and focused on self-care is critical to long-term success and better outcomes. We are so committed to this effort, we have already invested more than $14 million toward this initiative and will continue to do so.”

Roche’s Behavior Change through Patient Engagement program offers:

  • Coaching skills for healthcare professionals to help achieve breakthroughs in engagement of patients;
  • Free patient education programs to help adults, children and teens make self-management easier; and
  • Easy tools that help patients discover that the actions they take every day matters – understanding how things like changes in therapy, foods or activities affect their blood glucose.

“Diabetes is a difficult, frustrating disease,” said Roche Diabetes Care Medical Director Dr. Andreas Stuhr. “Our Behavior Change program helps healthcare professionals address things like diabetes burnout and other psychological barriers to effective self-care. In addition, we have devised unique and powerful tools to help patients discover that change is worthwhile and achievable.”

New educational programs and tools within the Behavior Change through Patient Engagement will continue to be rolled out throughout the year. Meanwhile, existing programs have been further enhanced to fully complement the Behavior Change program.

“We are confident that, together, we can change the future of people who have diabetes,” Vierstraete added. “That core belief – that behavior change is worthwhile and achievable – is essential and Roche is committed to helping provide the foundation needed for lasting change.”

Roche Diabetes Care is a pioneer in the development of blood glucose monitoring systems and a global leader for diabetes management systems and services. For more than 30 years, Roche has been committed to helping people with diabetes live lives that are as normal and active as possible and has been helping healthcare professionals manage their patients’ condition in an optimal way. Today, the ACCU-CHEK portfolio offers people with diabetes and healthcare professionals innovative products, services and comprehensive solutions for convenient, efficient and effective diabetes management – from blood glucose monitoring through information management to insulin delivery. The ACCU-CHEK brand encompasses blood glucose meters, infusion pumps, lancing and data management systems.

For more information, please visit accu-chek.com.


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