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Joanne St. John attributes her success in her three years as a sales rep for Princeton, NJ-based Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals to the freedom she has been given to determine her own strategies and take advantage of her personal background and skills.

More states are telling HMOs and other health insurers to pick up the tab for pharmaceuticals and other forms of obesity treatment.

According to an editorial published in the British Medical Journal (vol. 321, no. 7263), discontinuing medication before surgery can actually increase the risk of complications.

Establishing and maintaining positive business relationships is a key challenge in selling to the growing number of foreign-born physicians practicing in North America.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that it is proposing new rules to enable more low-income Americans to gain Medicaid coverage.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that it will conduct a focused study of generic drug competition.

A new study, based on interviews with international headache experts and published by Waltham, MA-based Decision Resources Inc., predicts strong growth in the market for prescription drugs to treat migraines.

Half the people who have used the Internet to get health and medical information say this information has improved the way they take care of themselves.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released "Revised Guidelines for HIV Counseling, Testing and Referral" and "U.S. Public Health Service Recommendations for HIV Screening of Pregnant Women," two draft documents for public comment.

The American Medical Association, more than 90 national provider and health organizations, and national, state and medical specialty associations encouraged the Institute of Medicine to support constructive learning and shared experience in the development of a properly constructed healthcare error reporting system.

By the time this issue of Pharmaceutical Representative reaches its readers, the new Prescription Drug Marketing Act regulations will finally have taken effect.

Total retail prescription drug sales for 2000 are expected to reach a record $143.5 billion, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

The FDA has suspended clinical trials at the Garden State Cancer Center until violations at the center are addressed.

Sales of drug delivery products are expected to increase by 100% over the next five years.

A new initiative launched by the National Institutes of Health encourages private-sector involvement in attacking several of the world's most deadly infectious diseases.

Prescription drugs that are heavily advertised to consumers are responsible for the recent rise in pharmaceutical spending in the United States.

The increased use of medicines, not rising prices, is the cause of higher prescription drug spending.

The pharmaceutical industry is currently behind other brick-and-mortar industries in terms of e-business growth, but is moving rapidly to accelerate progress.

SmithKline Beecham and Block Drug Co. Inc. announced that the companies have signed agreements for SmithKline Beecham to acquire Block Drug.

The results of the first systematic program monitoring the quality of medical care provided to Medicare beneficiaries have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

American Home Products Corp., Madison, NJ; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., New York; Eli Lilly and Co., Indianapolis; Glaxo Wellcome Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC; Hoffman-La Roche Inc., Nutley, NJ; Merck & Co. Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., East Hanover, NJ; Pfizer Inc., New York; Proctor & Gamble Co., Cincinnati; Schering-Plough Corp., Madison, NJ; SmithKline Beecham, Philadelphia; and Warner Lambert Co., Morris Plains, NJ were all named to Working Mother magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers." Companies were rated on a scale of one to five (with five being the highest) in the following categories: childcare, flexibility, leave for new parents, work/life benefits and advancement of women. The list appeared in the October issue of the magazine.

The Pharmacy Manpower Project Inc., Alexandria, VA, has released the results of the National Pharmacist Work force Survey: 2000. The survey was conducted by a team of pharmacy work force researchers at Midwest colleges of pharmacy during April and May 2000. An overall response rate of 46% was achieved for the survey.

According to the Washington-based National Committee for Quality Assurance's fourth annual State of Managed Care Quality report – an assessment of the industry's performance and the impact improvements will have on Americans' health – health maintenance organizations made their largest gains ever in 1999 in every region of the country and across every single clinical quality measure NCQA examines. The report, which is based on an analysis of health plan performance data from Quality Compass 2000, NCQA's database of managed care information, looks at data submitted by 466 health plans that cover some 51 million people. It also examines Americans' perceptions of managed care.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke unveiled a plan to help senior citizens purchase prescription drugs at lower costs.

For John Lumley, who is in his 11th year as a sales rep in Johnstown, PA, for Janssen Pharmaceutica, working in a small town is challenging, but lends a valuable perspective on the personal aspects of selling. Without access to the events and programs available in metropolitan areas, he has learned to watch for unique opportunities to make contact with his physicians and take the time to get to know them as individuals.

The number of pharmaceutical company-sponsored physician meetings and events skyrocketed from 70,000 in 1993 to 280,000 in 1999, according to Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin's Physician Meeting & Event Audit. Between 1998 and 1999, the number of events held for doctors jumped 25%.

I have been in pharmaceutical sales for less than a year, and the following are the things that I've learned.

What to focus on when it comes down to you.