NEWS WATCH: AHOLD CHAINS EDUCATE PHARMACISTS ON MEDICARE... OREGON REQUIRES PRESCRIPTIONS FOR PSE... TEENS SHOW STRONG INTEREST IN CELEBRITY MAGAZINES

AHOLD CHAINS EDUCATE PHARMACISTS ON MEDICARE

op & Shop Supermarket Co. here and Giant Food, Landover, Md., are partnering with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Baltimore, to train Giant and Stop & Shop pharmacists. The program is meant to assist pharmacy customers who will be eligible for Medicare prescription drug coverage next year enroll in the program.

OREGON REQUIRES PRESCRIPTIONS FOR PSE

SALEM, Ore. -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, this month signed a bill aimed at curtailing the production of methamphetamines, but requiring prescriptions for pseudoephedrine products. Of the various anti-meth initiatives around the country, this is the most restrictive of PSE, a popular decongestant ingredient. Other states require that it be sold from behind a counter, usually in a pharmacy and often with consumers signing a logbook.

TEENS SHOW STRONG INTEREST IN CELEBRITY MAGAZINES

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The interest in celebrity-driven magazine titles by teenagers has increased dramatically in the last four years, according to a study by Simmons Market Research here. These are not limited to titles like Teen People, but now include magazines appealing to older readers like Us Weekly and Star. For example, of all teens surveyed in 2004, 32% said they had read or looked at Seventeen in the last six months, down from 40% in 2000, but 14% said they had read or looked at Us Weekly in 2004 compared to 5% in 2000, and 11% for Star in 2004, up from 7% in 2000.