Kmart Pharmacy Takes Step to Battle Methamphetamine Use
On the heels of the first national Meth Awareness Week, Kmart Pharmacy announced that all in-store pharmacies nationwide are increasing their efforts to keep their communities safer by stocking NEXAFED®, a meth-resistant pseudoephedrine product designed to help pharmacies and their customers combat methamphetamine usage across the country.
PRESS RELEASE
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Dec. 1, 2014—On the heels of the first national Meth Awareness Week, Kmart Pharmacy announced that all in-store pharmacies nationwide are increasing their efforts to keep their communities safer by stocking NEXAFED®, a meth-resistant pseudoephedrine (PSE) product designed to help pharmacies and their customers combat methamphetamine (meth) usage across the country.
The adoption of meth-resistant NEXAFED is the latest in a series of community-focused patient care initiatives for Kmart Pharmacy, to help communities be and stay healthy.
“Kmart Pharmacy is taking a step to protect the health of our communities while still meeting the needs of our customers in terms of a treatment that provides the congestion relief they’ve come to rely on with traditional pseudoephedrine products,” said Dain Rusk, RPh., vice president and general manager of Kmart Pharmacy. “The average Kmart pharmacist has worked with the company for nearly 12 years, and they’ve seen first-hand the impact of meth use and production locally — and the important role pharmacies can play in addressing this important issue.”
NEXAFED delivers Kmart Pharmacy patients the same nasal congestion relief they rely on from traditional products like Sudafed®, but unlike traditional PSE products, NEXAFED includes the unique IMPEDE® technology that disrupts the conversion of PSE into meth, the primary process by which the drug is illegally manufactured in the United States. Recent data from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration show that meth use is on the rise nationwide, with more than 100,000 more people using methamphetamine in 2013 than reported in previous years.
“We commend Kmart Pharmacy for their decision to go beyond the standard legal requirements that guide PSE sales and are thrilled to see them join the ranks of thousands of pharmacies nationwide who are joining the fight against meth by stocking meth-resistant products,” said Bob Jones, president and chief executive officer of Acura Pharmaceuticals, the makers of Nexafed.
In addition to the introduction of abuse-deterrent products like NEXAFED, Kmart Pharmacy continues to educate its pharmacists on the latest national, state and local regulations around PSE sales as well as utilizes a system known as NPLEx to monitor the sale of pseudoephedrine electronically.
To learn more about NEXAFED, please visit www.nexafed.com, or consult your local Kmart Pharmacy.
About Kmart
Kmart, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a mass merchandising company and part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Kmart offers customers quality products through a portfolio of exclusive brands that include Sofia by Sofia Vergara, Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Route 66 and Smart Sense. For more information visit the company's website at http://www.kmart.com/| Sears Holdings Corporation website at http://www.searsholdings.com/| Facebook: www.facebook.com/kmart.
About Nexafed®
NEXAFED® [pseudoephedrine hydrochloride] is a 30 mg immediate-release abuse-deterrent decongestant. The next generation pseudoephedrine tablet combines effective nasal congestion relief with IMPEDE technology, a unique polymer matrix that disrupts the conversion of pseudoephedrine into the dangerous drug, methamphetamine. IMPEDE technology forms a thick gel when the tablets are dissolved in solvents typically used in the pseudoephedrine extraction or methamphetamine production processes, trapping the pseudoephedrine or converted methamphetamine to resist its isolation or purification. For additional information, visit www.nexafed.com.
About Meth Awareness Week
Meth Awareness Week is observed Saturday, November 30 through Saturday, December 7 in an effort to combat the abuse and use of methamphetamine and is coordinated by the Meth Project, a large-scale, teen-targeted prevention program of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.
Sudafed is a registered trademark of Johnson & Johnson Corporation.
