Wal-Mart changes top management
Wal-Mart Stores on Friday announced key management changes and a realignment of responsibilities for some of its most senior executives. John Menzer and Mike Duke have been promoted to vice chairmen positions within the company...
Drug Store News (Sub Req'd) | Arkansas News Bureau

Shoplifting, employee theft continue to steal profits
More than 750,000 shoplifters and dishonest employees were apprehended in 2004 by just 27 U.S. retail companies, according to the 17th Annual Retail Theft Survey...
Progressive Grocer

Additional News:

• Wal-Mart sees same-store sales up Yahoo/Reuters
• Wegmans issues 'Eat Well Live Well' calendar Progressive Grocer
• McDonald's exec joins Sam's Club Retail Merchandiser
• Tesco names new clothing chief Progressive Grocer
• Wal-Mart to buy controlling interest in Seiyu Retail Merchandiser

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Altana buys GSK's prescription dermatology business
Altana on Friday acquired the prescription dermatology business from GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. Altana’s PharmaDerm division will assume manufacturing and marketing of the synthetic corticosteroid Aclovate, anti-inflammatories Cultivate and Temovate, the antibiotic Emgel and the antifungal Oxistat...
Drug Store News (Sub Req'd) | BusinessWeek

Betaseron cuts MS risk in early stage
Schering released data from a trial on Friday in which its Betaseron multiple sclerosis drug reduced the risk of developing the disease in early-stage patients by 50 percent. Schering said in a statement it planned to submit the data from its BENEFIT study on a 250 microgramme dose of Betaseron, its top-selling drug, to regulators for a label enhancement...
Reuters

Additional News:

• Strattera risks may widen Fortune
• Alert issued on Menactra Meningococcal vaccine FDA
• Novartis multiple-sclerosis drug effectively reduces relapses WSJ (Sub Req'd)
• How elixir deaths led U.S. to require proof of new drugs' safety WSJ (Sub Req'd)
• First Germans join U.S. lawsuit against Merck over Vioxx Yahoo/AFP
• FDA panel backs Novartis blood disorder drug Reuters
• New labels for medicines coming soon Reuters

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FDA approves generic PSE extended-release tablets
With many pseudoephedrine cough/cold products headed for placement behind the pharmacy counter, generics company Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals announced Thursday it had secured FDA approval for its PSE extended-release tablets...
Drug Store News (Sub Req'd) | PRNewswire

Chocolate may help smokers’ blood vessels
Chocolate may help repair damage to smokers’ blood vessels, at least temporarily, a new study shows. The benefit may stem from antioxidants called flavonols that are found in chocolate (and fruits and vegetables), write the researchers in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology...
FOX News

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Colgate missed out on Gillette deal
Gillette held merger talks with Colgate-Palmolive, a rival consumer goods company, about four months before approaching Procter & Gamble. The failure of the negotiations last year could for Colgate represent one of the greatest missed opportunities in the industry's recent history...
Financial Times

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Heinz launches Silly Squirts ketchup
Heinz has announced the launch of a new child-friendly bottle for its tomato ketchup. Heinz Silly Squirts has three flip-top drawing nozzles, each dispensing the Ketchup in a different design...
Food Business Review

Busch plans new pumpkin-flavored beer
Anheuser-Busch plans a new pumpkin-flavored beer this fall, first in a series of four regional draughts, the company announced Thursday. Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale will be available through mid-December, followed by a winter brew in January, a spring brew in April and a summer brew in July...
Prepared Foods

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Kodak EasyShare finally hits stores
Eastman Kodak has finally begun shipping what it claims is the world's first digital camera with Wi-Fi capability, enabling users to take a photo and e-mail it immediately. EasyShare-One, originally scheduled to ship last June, hit retailers this week, priced at $599...
BrandWeek

Albertsons pulls Seventeen magazine from stores
Albertsons pulled the October issue of Seventeen magazine from its stores in 12 Western states after receiving complaints about a two-page article called “Vagina 101: what’s normal and what’s not.”
Drug Store News (Sub Req'd) | GroceryFAQs

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FDA to hold two-day direct-to-consumer advertising meeting
FDA will collect public input on whether current direct-to-consumer promotion of medical products disseminates information in an "accurate, nonmisleading, balanced and understandable" manner. The agency is convening a meeting on consumer-oriented promotion of prescription drugs for humans and animals, vaccines, blood products and medical devices on November 1-2...
FDA Advisory Committee

Medicare's drug benefit explained
What in the world should you do about the new Medicare drug benefit? The program is about to get under way and more than 40 million Medicare beneficiaries are scratching their heads, asking themselves whether to sign up for the program and, if so, which of the dozens of plans to choose from...
San Francisco Chronicle

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