TherapEase Cuisine™, Medco's Cancer Nutrition Program, Expands Capabilities to Food Shipments Directly to Patients' Homes

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Jan. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) today announced a new advancement in its continued pursuit of improving the quality of life for cancer patients. TherapEase Cuisine, Medco's online resource for cancer patient nutrition, will now facilitate compliance with our individualized recommendations based on diagnosis and treatment regimen, by providing foods delivered to a patient's home. 

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Proper nutrition is a critical element of patient care that can mitigate the side effects caused by chemotherapy and support recovery from cancer treatment. The introduction of the delivery service reinforces Medco's already unique cancer nutrition program by providing a convenient way to stay adherent to what can often times be a complicated meal plan.

"The science of cancer care is evolving, and our support for patients with complex drug regimens must also evolve," says Dr. Milayna Subar, national practice leader of the Medco Oncology Therapeutic Resource Center® . "Patients on certain chemotherapy or radiation treatments may have difficulty eating as a result of nausea, mouth soreness, or a metallic taste after certain chemotherapy treatments can just make food taste 'bad'; complications of cancers may make it difficult to swallow; and many cancer patients lose weight leading to 'cancer cachexia.'" 

Subar adds that identifying the best foods for a specific patient (liquids or solids; fresh or cooked; vitamin supplements or not; cold or room temperature) is key to optimizing the physicians' care plan -- understanding each individual patient's needs is often the first step to take.

"Medco's oncology solutions treat the patient holistically. While we concentrate on providing specially trained pharmacists and proprietary therapy management protocols, including pharmacogenomic screening, we also bring together unique solutions which help the patient to optimize their drug regimen, like TherapEase Cuisine," says Jeff Ulanet, Medco vice president of oncology. "Medco's clients will continue to look toward our unique set of solutions as ones which are focused on returning greater cost savings, while improving drug adherence, and overall quality of life for cancer patients.  Nutrition care and meal shipping are just two of the ways we do this."

For more information about TherapEase Cuisine, please visit www.therapeasecuisine.com and for information about Medco's Oncology Solutions, visit: http://www.accredo.com/therapy/aos.html.

About TherapEase Cuisine™
TherapEase Cuisine is a Medco company launched in 2010 that provides personalized online nutritional counseling and meal planning from registered dietitians who specialize in oncology. All meal-planning recommendations are based on scientific research, follow American Dietetic Association® standards and are customized for each patient according to:

• Diagnosis
• Treatment plan
• Treatment-related symptoms
• Medications
• Unique food preferences
• Other co-morbidities such as diabetes or food allergies

Patients who utilize the service can generate a customized meal plan, and order foods contained in the plan.

About Medco
Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) is pioneering The world's most advanced pharmacy® and its clinical research and innovations are part of Medco making medicine smarter™ for approximately 65 million members.

With more than 20,000 employees worldwide dedicated to improving patient health and reducing costs for a wide range of public and private sector clients, and 2010 revenues of $66 billion, Medco ranks 34th on the 2011 Fortune 500 list and is named among the world's most innovative, most admired and most trustworthy companies.

For more information, go to http://www.medcohealth.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the risks and uncertainties that affect our business, particularly those mentioned in the Risk Factors section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Medco Health Solutions, Inc.