A study on diabetic patients by the University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences identified cost savings with improvements in a key indicator of glucose control in diabetes patients, the hemoglobin A1C measurement. The A1C provides a three-month average of the amount of excess glucose in the blood. Higher A1Cs indicate that a patient is at higher risk for developing long-term complications associated with diabetes, such as kidney disease or vision problems.

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Published last spring in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, the UB study of 50 patients with Type 2 diabetes demonstrated that in just six months clinical pharmacists, in collaboration with primary care providers, were able to significantly reduce patients’ A1C levels.

In the UB study, patients’ A1C levels were reduced by an average of 1.1 percent, from an average of 8.5 percent to 7.4 percent, one year after being enrolled in the program, while also improving the overall metabolic profile.

“Our results show that enhancing the patient’s access to care through collaborative physician-pharmacist relationships can yield lower blood glucose levels, improve the overall metabolic profile and reduce costs to the payer,” says Erin Slazak, PharmD, UB clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice and board certified pharmacotherapy specialist.

These clinical improvements occurred while monthly costs per patient went down by approximately $212, around $2,500 per year, even though there were nominal increases in the cost of medications prescribed.

The key to success?

“Patients had unlimited access to pharmacists throughout the year,” says Slazak.

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Patients referred to the UB program had been identified by their primary care providers as having difficulty controlling their blood sugar. Slazak notes that it was not uncommon to see patients with glucose levels as high as 400 mg/dl (normal levels are below 100 mg/dl).

The UB pharmacists spent an initial one-hour appointment with each patient, where they worked up detailed health records covering dietary information and all medications and disease conditions, and then reviewed them with each patient.

After that, patients could call or make appointments with pharmacists at will.

“We did extensive education with patients about how to manage their conditions,” says Slazak. “In many cases, we were instrumental in getting them to start insulin. There is a lot of resistance to that, and not just because it’s an injection.”

For patients in the initial stages of administering insulin, she says it was common to be contacted once every few days. The pharmacists then made suggestions to physicians about changes in medications, dosages or lifestyle that might be beneficial to their patients.

That kind of individualized attention is far from the norm for diabetic patients.

“Nationwide, the standard of care is that the primary care provider manages diabetes alone,” says Slazak. “Pharmacists typically do not have direct involvement.”

That is partly because some states, including New York, have not yet approved collaborative practice agreements between physicians and pharmacists. In the Buffalo study, for example, physicians were required to review pharmacists’ recommendations and approve all interventions first. Completion of the review process and approval occurred in only half of the cases, potentially limiting the overall benefit to the patient.

“We know there’s a long-term clinical and economic benefit to pharmacists working directly with patients and we think that can continue to grow,” says Scott V. Monte, PharmD, UB clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice and director of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Research, CPL Associates, LLC, in Buffalo. “Pharmacists can help achieve better outcomes if given the chance.”

The study was conducted through MedSense™, part of the Pharmacotherapy Research Initiative, a collaborative effort between Lifetime Health Medical Group and UB, to study how pharmacists impact patient care. MedSense™ is one of many program sites that are part of the UB Pharmacotherapy Research Initiative in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, which was established to study how pharmacy medication management can improve the health of patients while cutting costs through patient-centered pharmacotherapy.

In addition to Slazak and Monte, other co-authors on the paper include Nicole Paolini Albanese, PharmD, UB clinical assistant professor; Martin Adelman, PhD, chief information officer at CPL Associates, LLC; Gauri Rao, a student in the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Joseph A. Paladino, PharmD, UB professor of pharmacy and director of outcomes research at CPL Associates, LLC.

The program is jointly funded by Lifetime Health Medical Group and the UB School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Pharmacists Improve Care of Diabetics While Cutting Costs, Research Shows is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

MANCHESTER COLLEGE TO LAUNCH SCHOOL FOR PHARMACISTS IN FORT WAYNE

(Nov. 3, 2009) Elgin, IL — Manchester College will begin the accreditation process for a School of Pharmacy in Fort Wayne, Ind., with unanimous appro val given by its Board of Trustees. Manchester College is a Church of the B rethren-related school in North Manchester, Ind.

The college plans to enroll its first students in the four-year Doctor of P harmacy program in the fall of 2012. This is the 121-year-old baccalaureate college’s first venture into a doctoral program and into a satellite campu s. It will be the only Doctor of Pharmacy program in northern Indiana.

“Graduate education for pharmacists is a natural fit with Manchester Colleg e,” said president Jo Young Switzer. Manchester has a strong reputation in the sciences, particularly for preparing students for medical and graduate school. The college also emphasizes service learning.

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Fort Wayne is a natural fit for the new venture. In addition to numerous me dical facilities and opportunities for pharmacy practicum experiences, Fort Wayne offers many amenities attractive to the school’s 250 students, 40 fa culty and staff members, and their families.

“The decision by Manchester College to start a PharmD program in Fort Wayne is a wonderful investment of financial and intellectual capital in our cit y,” said mayor Tom Henry. “As the health care sector continues to grow in F ort Wayne and northeast Indiana, Manchester College’s expansion of professi onal programs is going to be key in creating the highly skilled, highly edu cated workforce employers demand.”

The average starting salary for pharmacists exceeds $100,000 and demand in the highly competitive profession is expected to grow more than 20 percent in the coming decade, said Switzer. The college’s research indicates many p harmacy graduates–who come from throughout the nation–remain in the commu nities where they study. Said Switzer, “During our exploration, many told u s that this project aligns well with other initiatives undertaken in northe ast Indiana to strengthen the economy here.”

Admission to Manchester’s new school will require two years of pre-pharmacy coursework. The college will add that program to its undergraduate curricu lum in North Manchester and its students will compete with pre-pharmacy stu dents from other colleges and universities for seats in the School of Pharm acy.

The college has not finalized its plans for a Fort Wayne site for the new s chool, which will require at least 35,000 square feet for classrooms, offic es, and laboratories. The pharmacy school will be a part of Manchester Coll ege and governed by the college’s Board of Trustees.

The search for a founding dean and building of a leadership team will begin immediately. That team will begin preparing the school’s application for a ccreditation.

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continu ing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith t raditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated it s 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 125,000 members across the Unit ed States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

(This release was provided by Jeri S. Kornegay, Director of Media and Publi c Relations, Manchester College.)

For more information contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the Brethren
1451 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120
800-323-8039 ext. 260

cobnews@brethren.org

School of Pharmacy launch in Manchester College is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

At the “roof-raising” for the new KU pharmacy school, which will share a campus with the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Gov. Mark Parkinson said access to pharmacists is critical for small towns.

At a time when hometown drugstores are in deep decline, the University of Kansas on Wednesday ceremonially launched a new school in Wichita to turn out more rural pharmacists.

From 2006 to 2008, the number of independent rural pharmacies across the country dropped from 7,395 to 6,892 — a 6.8 percent decrease, according to a study by the Rural Policy Research Institute and the University of Nebraska.

At present, the KU School of Pharmacy admits 105 students a year, all of them at KU’s home campus in Lawrence. Expansion is under way there to increase that to 150.

More than 30 Kansas counties are underserved and seven don’t have any pharmacists at all, he said.

“Those counties won’t make it if they don’t get pharmacists,” Parkinson said. “KU has led the way in populating western Kansas with general practitioners…. hopefully and optimistically, this program will fill that same void with pharmacists.”

It may not be easy.

The traditional town druggist is faced with unprecedented challenges including high drug prices, increased competition from mail-order pharmacies and insurance company policies that favor national chains and discount stores.

The Wichita campus, near Ninth Street and I-135, is expected to begin admitting students in fall of 2011. The first class will be 20 students, with possible expansion later to as many as 40.

Graduates from the Wichita program will be able to work anywhere, but speakers at Wednesday’s event repeatedly expressed hope that many will choose rural Kansas.

“This is a health care imperative, this is an economic development initiative and this is absolutely a quality of life imperative,” said Jill Docking, chairwoman of the Kansas Board of Regents. “Most fundamentally, it is a Kansas imperative.”

Kansas isn’t the first to face the challenge, nor the first to establish a campus geared toward rural pharmacy.

The University of Minnesota established a branch of its pharmacy college in Duluth, a remote city on Lake Superior, in 2003.

Since then, the percentage of U of M graduates opting for rural pharmacy careers has risen from 8 percent to 13 percent overall, said professor Timothy Stratton, an expert on economic and work force issues of rural pharmacists.

Stratton said the college tends to recruit students from small towns because they are most likely to return to that setting after their training.

But for many, the cost of a pharmacy education is a big obstacle, he said.

The average graduate has to pay off $80,000 to $100,000 in debt — a barrier to graduates who might otherwise buy into a local pharmacy.

Also, national chains offer higher pay and a steady paycheck, allowing graduates to pay off their debt faster, he said.

The trade-offs are quality of life and job satisfaction, Stratton said.

The small-town pharmacist is a pillar of the community, gets to know customers as individuals, and can work much more closely with local doctors to manage patients’ care, he said.

The communities can help, too, Stratton said. Some Minnesota towns have assisted young pharmacists with financing to buy drugstores from colleagues who are nearing retirement.

And while traditional hometown drugstores are in decline, there are opportunities for rural practice in a variety of settings, Stratton said.

He said when he worked in a small Alaska town early in his career, he served as pharmacist for the community hospital, the town drugstore and the local nursing home.

“It was never a dull moment,” he said.

Kansas Rep. Don Hill, R-Emporia, and Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, both of whom are pharmacists, attended Wednesday’s ceremony.

They said they think opportunity still exists in rural pharmacy, although there are some hurdles.

For example, mail pharmacy has gone from practically nonexistent to about 10 percent of the market in the past 10 years, Hill said.

“It is a trend and it’s a trend that will continue,” he said. “But you still have 90 percent of the folks that are going to be served by bricks and mortar pharmacy.”

For Hill, it’s a numbers game.

“KU has only been turning out 100 to 105 pharmacists a year,” he said. “Given the many opportunities for them to pursue with that basic degree, no group has been getting as many as they would like — the mail-order pharmacies, the chain pharmacies, the community pharmacies in rural areas.

“We need more pharmacists, that’s the bottom line.”

New school hopes to train rural pharmacists is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

URI officials said the 148,000-square-foot pharmacy building – which will include three classrooms, a 165-seat auditorium and assorted research facilities – will allow the program to expand. The building, which is designed for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification, will also contain teaching laboratories, tissue culture rooms, an intravenous preparation lab, a 3-D visualization auditorium and a patient simulation center.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – University of Rhode Island officials broke ground Monday morning on a five-story, $75 million College of Pharmacy building that will be the largest academic structure on the Kingston campus when it is completed in 2011.

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The groundbreaking marks the next phase of a URI construction plan focusing on science and biotechnology. Earlier this year, the school opened a new, $54 million Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences and a $15 million Ocean Science and Exploration Center and Pell Marine Science Library on its Bay Campus in Narragansett.

Enrollment in the pharmacy doctorate program is projected to increase by 30 percent over the next several years. Graduate and undergraduate programs are forecast to expand as well.

“This state-of-the-art facility will pave the way for us to expand our work in training a new generation of pharmacists, growing our state’s research capacity and generating groundbreaking discoveries,” Gov. Donald L. Carcieri said in a statement.

The construction project is largely being paid for through a $65 million bond approved by voters in November 2006, with the remaining cost expected to be covered by donations. More than $4.1 million in pledges have been received as of Monday, according to URI.

“The University of Rhode Island is a real engine for the economic recovery of Rhode Island,” URI President David M. Dooley said in remarks released ahead of the groundbreaking Monday. “This new building represents an important investment in research and education by both the state and the private sector. It’s an investment that will provide a great return to the people of Rhode Island.”

Woonsocket-based CVS Caremark Corp., whose CEO Thomas M. Ryan is a URI graduate, pledged $2 million to the College of Pharmacy last month, about half of which will go toward financing the new building.

“This is a tremendous day for URI and for those of us who set our sights on the goal of building a state-of-the-art school of pharmacy in Rhode Island,” Ryan said Monday in prepared remarks. “With the aging of the population and continual advances in pharmacy health care, pharmacists play a key role as part of the health care delivery team. We are pleased to help in preparing them for their careers as trusted health care advisors.”

URI’s biological sciences complex, DeWolf Laboratory and Tyler Hall north annex will be demolished to make way for the new building and a new quadrangle in the north side of the Kingstown campus. Activities in those buildings already have been relocated to new facilities, including the Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences.

URI said the 700 students and 45 faculty members at the College of Pharmacy have outgrown Fogarty Hall, where the pharmacy school has been located since it opened in 1964.

The pharmacy program has traditionally been the most selective at the university, accepting only about 95 students annually for its doctorate program, from an applicant pool that usually totals more than 1,000.

Work begins on URI pharmacy building is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

Regarding University of the Cumberland’s bid for a pharmacy school…
It has been reported that most of the likely pharmacy graduates would not remain in SE Kentucky anyway. Would they choose to start their careers in areas that pay more?

If the state is experiencing a shortage of pharmacists, it is strange that Kentucky Republicans do not simply alleviate the situation by using the oft touted “wisdom of the market place.” If you need more pharmacists, all you need to do is offer higher pay than is available elsewhere and they will flock to SE Kentucky.

Rather than try to break the state law and grant money illegally to a religious school, why not build a pharmacy school at the Corbin campus of Eastern Kentucky University, which is a state school and only 15  miles up the road. Would not this be a better use of tax funds than trying to twist the law which clearly states that giving the money to the University of the Cumberlands is illegal?

A building at EKU-Corbin would cost much less since it would not have to be a replica of Independence Hall, the Virginia House of Burgesses, the Sistine Chapel, or other historic structures which U of C seems to need. Instead of replicas of the New York Grand Central Station starry ceiling, the money could be used for laboratories and teaching needs. More pharmacy school for the public’s dollar!

Richard Mandell,

Corbin

Pharmacy school makes more sense at EKU-Corbin is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

How To Prepare For A Career As A Pharmacist

• Midwestern University Chicago
• Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville School of Pharmacy
• University of Illinois at Chicago
• Chicago State University
• Butler University
• Purdue University
• Drake University
• University of Iowa
• University of Kansas
• University of Kentucky
• Sullivan University
• University of Louisiana – at Monroe School of Pharmacy
• Xavier University
• University of New England
• University of Maryland – School of Pharmacy
• College of Notre Dame Maryland
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy Boston
• Massachusetts College of Pharmacy Worcester
• Northeastern University – Bouve College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
• Ferris State University
• University of Michigan Wayne State University – Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sc
• University of Minnesota
• University of Mississippi
• St Louis College of Pharmacy – St Louis College of Pharmacy
• University of Missouri – Kansas City Pharmacy School
• University of Montana – Pharmacy School and Allied Health Sciences
• Creighton University
• University of Nebraska
• University of Southern – Nevada College of Pharmacy
• Rutgers State University of New Jersey – Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
• University of New Mexico
• Long Island University – A and M Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Science
• St Johns University – College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions
• University at Buffalo – State University of New York Pharmacy School
• Albany College of Pharmacy
• University of North Carolina
• North Dakota State University
• Ohio Northern University – Raabe College of Pharmacy
• Ohio State University
• University of Cincinnati – James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy
• Northeastern Ohio Universities
• University of Oklahoma
• Oregon State University
• Duquesne University – Mylan School of Pharmacy
• Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine – LECOM School of Pharmacy
• University of the Sciences Philadelphia
• Temple University
• University of Pittsburgh
• Wilkes University – Nesbitt School of Pharmacy
• Thomas Jefferson University
• University of Rhode Island South Carolina College of Pharmacy
• South Dakota State University
• University of Tennessee
• Texas A and M University – Kingsville Irma Rangel pharmacy school
• Texas Tech University
• University of Houston
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Utah
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• University of Washington
• Washington State University
• West Virginia University
• University of Wisconsin
• University of Wyoming

Pharmacists provide a valuable service which requires a very specific set of skills that are useful in a variety of settings. In addition to being a rewarding and dynamic career, the pharmacy vocation offers flexible hours, an excellent salary, and the opportunity to work in a variety of settings. The most common environment for a pharmacist to work in is a drug store dispensing medications, providing education and counseling to the public and even, at times, to doctors and nurses. Developing the right drug program for patients on multiple medications is another important aspect of the job. Other avenues a pharmacist can pursue include performing research at a pharmaceutical company, working in a nursing home or home health care setting, teaching at medical schools or even working in a government health agency.

Preparation for a pharmaceutical career begins in high school. Students who are interested in this field should build a strong foundation in mathematics and science as pharmacists must have an aptitude for math and chemistry. Try to complete a range of course in the science field. Advanced placement courses will prepare you for the vigorous curriculum a pharmaceutical student must complete in college. Foreign language study is also recommended. Most colleges and pharmacy schools require or give preference to students who have taken a foreign language. Developing written and communication skills will be helpful throughout both the college years and while working in the profession. Practical experience in the field can be gained by obtaining an afterschool or summer job at a hospital, pharmacy or any other type of medical office or laboratory. Though experience isn’t a requirement, it is helpful to developing skills early on and offers insight into whether you will enjoy working in this particular field.

After high school, you will need to attend college. Students intending to pursue a career as a pharmacist will not need to obtain a bachelor degree. The bachelor degree requirement is no longer in effect. Some pharmacy schools will admit students after they have completed at least two years of undergraduate college work. Others may require three years of undergraduate study before you can apply for admission. Admission is often contingent on the completion of certain core requirements. You can attend any college or university you prefer and then apply for entry into a pharmacy school. If you choose this route, you should find a college which offers a good chemistry, pre-med curriculum or pre-pharmacy program. Maintain a high grade point average to ensure your application for pharmacy school will be competitive enough. Be sure to participate in some form of community service. Leadership activities are also important. Admission requests are on the rise and so the schools are becoming increasingly selective.

The other option is to find a college with a full pharmacy program. The benefit of choosing one college for your undergraduate and graduate degree programs is that you will receive preference when applying for entry into the pharmacy program. Also, the college will be best equipped to ensure you meet all of the entry requirements and that your academic program is on track. Pharmacy programs are generally six year programs. Two years of undergraduate study must be completed. Some schools offer accelerated programs which can eliminate a full year of schooling. After the completion of the two year requisite, student can begin the four year Pharmacy D program. The first three years are generally centered on academic study. The fourth year may be a field internship to allow the student to attain practical experience in the field.

There are approximately one hundred colleges in the United States with accredited professional pharmacy degree programs. You should expect to submit your application to pharmacy school one year in advance. Factors considered during the admission process include grade point average, leadership abilities, communication skills, community service and pharmacy experience if the candidate has acquired any. Courses most often required by most colleges prior to admission to the pharmacy program include biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, English composition, calculus, macroeconomics, foreign language or international studies, arts, American culture, intellectual heritage and studies in race or American ethnicity.

Though it is not a comprehensive list, schools with a professional pharmacy program include:

Students who intend to apply for admission at a pharmacy school will be required to take an entrance exam. The Pharmacy College Admission Test (PCAT) is the one most often accepted by the schools and most often taken by prospective students. The preferred test by most colleges is administered by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. Pre-registration is required to take the test. This can be completed online. The fee for taking the test must be paid at the time you register. The registration fee is $150.00. Three transcripts of your test scores will be sent to the schools of your choice with each additional transcript costing $20.00 each. The test consist of five sections: verbal ability, biology, chemistry, reading comprehension and quantitative ability. There are 240 multiple choice questions.

The Pharmacy degree program is both challenging and vigorous. You will be expected to complete coursework in basic pharmaceutical sciences. Anatomy, physiology, medicinal chemistry, biopharmaceutics, pharmacology and pharmaceutics are included among these professional courses. Students will examine and evaluate drug information and literature, complete courses in pharmacy administration and clinical pharmacy practice. Courses under these are pathophysiology, therapeutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmaceutical economics and pharmacy law. The third year of the program is dedicated mainly to electives chosen by the student. Students are able to select courses tailored towards their own interests and career goals; nuclear pharmacy, clinical research, drug safety. The fourth and final year is dedicated to internships where the student will work in a pharmaceutical setting under the direction of a licensed pharmacist and the supervision of a faculty advisor. At the completion of the program, the graduate will receive a Doctor of Pharmacy.

After you graduate from Pharmacy school with your Pharmacy D degree, you earn the title of pharmacist. You will be required to obtain a license in the state you intend to practice. Most states will have their own specific licensing requirements. One of the requirements is generally the completion of an internship. Since internships are part of the pharmacy school requirements you will likely already have this requirement satisfied before you graduate with the Pharmacy D. In most states, you will be required to take a licensure exam. The North American Pharmacist Licensure ExaminationTM (NAPLEX) is used in all jurisdictions within the United States which require the exam, except California. The exam is a computer adaptive test which will evaluate the person’s abilities of applying the knowledge they have attained throughout their pharmacy program. The exam fee is $430.00.

After you have successfully completed the exam and obtained your license, you will be able to begin work in the field. However, you will need to reapply for licensure every two years. Pharmacists are required to take continuing education courses during the two year period to ensure they remain current on the advancements, updates and changes which occur within the field. You should expect to complete approximately 30 units during this time. The courses must be accredited by the American Council of Pharmaceutical Education or considered acceptable by the sate board of pharmacy. Classes are offered both online and in a traditional classroom setting. Pharmacists will need to check with their state licensing agency to determine the renewal fee and requirements to make sure all requirements are met.

How To Prepare For A Career As A Pharmacist is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

The new mail-order prescription plan stems from an amendment to union contracts that went into effect Aug. 1. It affects 6,700 Stark County teachers and nonteaching employees.

With cuts in state funding hurting many districts, the prescription change is aimed at saving money for school systems, its supporters say.

The move will save a projected $2.25 million annually in the seven-county, 14,000-member public school consortium, said Larry Morgan, superintendent of Stark County Schools.

Morgan also is chairman of the Stark County Schools Council of Governments (SCSCG), a member of the larger Community Health Care Coalition that offers cooperative purchasing power.

That savings will help retain teaching jobs, he said recently.

Though the savings are not broken down by district, locally, the Stark County membership of 6,700, nearly half the consortium’s 14,000 members, would suggest that Stark’s savings — the dollars staying here — would be roughly half that figure, or $1.12 million.

But the dollars leaving Stark and its six other county consortium partners for the prescription plan and other changes will total in the millions.

That has local independent pharmacists concerned about the loss in business.

“We are having difficulty getting accurate numbers,” said Paul White, president of The Medicine Shoppe and Medicine Center. “But we do know this is millions of dollars.”

“With 18 school districts represented in Stark County alone, that would represent the largest pool of employees within the county. So moving their prescription business from the county would be devastating,” said Nancy Wharmby, certified public accountant and executive vice president and controller of The Medicine Shoppe and Medicine Center in Stark and Tuscarawas counties.

WHAT’S DIFFERENT?

The new plan administered by Caremark, a pharmacy-benefits manager headquartered in Woonsocket, R.I., and the previous plan’s provider, allows members to fill one original prescription and one refill at the local pharmacy of their choice.

After that, maintenance prescriptions — drugs for chronic, ongoing medical conditions — must be ordered via mail through a Caremark processing center in Texas.

That means thousands of refills won’t be purchased in local pharmacies.

“The city (of Canton) is pumping money into the city to try to save jobs,” said pharmacist Steve Fettman, owner of Davies Drugs. “The way I look at it, these people are working and paying taxes, and by doing it, they’re going to support schools. What the mail order basically does is take the refills away from independent pharmacies, and that’s their bread and butter.”

What has been overlooked, say Fettman and White, is the way independent pharmacies support the community.

“All of us help the schools, teachers, sometimes teams, cheerleaders with donations. And we don’t mind doing that kind of stuff for kids. We’re asked on Election Day to vote for bond issues. Our reward is we lose business,” White said.

“When was the last time a high-school kid asked Caremark for a donation for her team?”

Diane Miller, Ohio Education Association (OEA) labor relations consultant, doesn’t see it that way.

“It seems disingenuous to me that someone is criticizing the schools for sending jobs out of the area and to attempt to bring political pressure on the schools to say we’re sending jobs elsewhere,” she said.

“Our response would be, what we have done saves jobs. We haven’t sent jobs outside Stark County. We’re saving teachers’ jobs. Their (the independent pharmacists’) bottom line is the bottom line.”

The transition was not a snap decision.

Miller said voting by the various unions in the member districts and locals, as well as tabulating, took nearly a year. Amendments to the health-care package, she said, required a majority vote for ratification. Lacking that, she added, the existing health-care package would have remained unchanged.

“This is the process we go through to make changes,” said Tim Miller, also an OEA labor-relations consultant. “We bargained in good faith. We now have a legally binding contract.”

THE IMPACT

The change has left some union members confused or unsure about what they voted on.

Teacher Ralph Jentes, vice president of the Louisville Education Association, is vocal about his concerns. He questions the validity of Morgan’s claim that the decision saved teachers’ jobs.

“We wonder how he quantifies that, in light of the fact that the COG is a virtual monopoly. With COG, what they tell you is a good deal is what you accept, and all the superintendents fall right into line. The same is true with prescriptions,” Jentes said.

At North Canton City Schools, Superintendent Michael Gallina said he had received only one call from a constituent inquiring about the new plan.

“I had two points of contact, one with the constituent and another with a local pharmacist I spoke with at a Rotary meeting. I tried to get both of them back to Larry (Morgan), because he put it together,” Gallina said.

CITY COUNCIL’S OPTION

About 18 months ago, a similar proposal came before Canton City Council to move to a mail-away prescription program. Councilman-at-large Bill Smuckler said the independent pharmacists attended a council meeting, outlining the impact such a move would have on the local economy.

“Their argument was that we’re spending millions of dollars to create or retain business here for Stark, and we’re sending millions to Texas,” Smuckler recalled. “Part of it was that the local pharmacies, if they’re told to exist on emergency medication, they’re going to have a hard time making it. So the city gave employees the option. We have some people who are mailing away, and there are some, like me, who go to the local pharmacy.”

Smuckler said his personal decision to stop using mail-away prescriptions was made after he ran out of a medication during a business trip. He called the mail-order pharmacy and was told the refill was in the mail and it could not be reissued to another address.

“When I got to my destination, my wife called and said it arrived. I called them again, and they told me to have my wife overnight it to me. I actually got sick on that trip.”

Pharmacists say schools’ mail-order policy will hurt business is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

In a letter issued to pharmacists the health authority said that a pharmacy with a HSE Agreement which is not providing the state drugs scheme is in breach of its legal obligations.

It also said that those involved are neglecting their duty of care to their clients.

The HSE has set up temporary dispensing units, but there have been reports of patients in rural areas having major problems getting their medication.

HSE sends letter of warning to pharmacists is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

By Nigel Praities

The UK drug regulator says it expects regulations to change by the end of the year, but critics say the move could expose patients to potentially dangerous treatments.

It is the latest in a series of developments to loosen the rules surrounding non-medical prescribing, coming just weeks after Pulse revealed proposals to extend prescribing rights to physiotherapists, dieticians and chiropodists.

The MHRA now says it wants to ‘regularise’ restrictions on prescribers and allow prescribing nurses and pharmacists the same freedoms as doctors.

Such a change will require the Home Office and the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs to alter Misuse of Drugs Regulations – but the Government has already accepted the recommendations, made by the MHRA’s Commission on Human Medicines.

In a statement, the MHRA said: ‘We intend to regularise the position of those engaged in the prescribing and mixing of medicines in other areas of clinical practice, and are extending our advice to cover these situations.’

The plans have left the GPC divided. Dr Bill Beeby, chair of the GPC’s clinical and prescribing subcommittee and a GP in Middlesbrough, said they could be useful in some scenarios, particularly in palliative care. ‘The new rights extended to non-medical prescribers will not lessen the duty of care when prescribing but will allow greater flexibility in some situations,’ he said.

But Dr Peter Fellows, also a member of the sub-committee and a GP in Lydney, Gloucestershire, condemned the proposals and said pharmacists and nurses should only be able to prescribe from specific formularies ‘consistent with their skills’.

‘Medical knowledge and proper medical indemnity to protect the patient is essential for relatively safe use of unlicensed products. Some unlicenced medicines can be dangerous – Chinese herbal remedies can cause liver damage,’ he said.

Professor Hugh McGavock, visiting professor of prescribing science at the University of Ulster and former member of the Committee on Safety of Medicines, said off-label prescribing was one of the riskiest elements of a doctor’s work, and required a level of training not provided to nurses and pharmacists.

‘It is an absolute no no. Even doctors would require that off-label prescribing was something generally agreed by specialists or other doctors. Certainly I would not like a nurse or a pharmacist to prescribe off-label for me.

‘Prescribing off-label should be the preserve of doctors who have made a proper diagnosis.’

Nurses and pharmacists to be given off-label prescribing rights is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools

This emerged at a meeting where the forum was officially launched on Saturday and after which 150 pharmacists from around the province faxed letters agreeing to establish a trade union exclusively for pharmacists.

The country’s 1 500 public sector pharmacists are represented by four unions: the Public Servants Association (PSA), the Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of SA (Hospersa), the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and the National Union of Public Servants and Allied Workers (Nupsaw).

Forum spokesman Ismail Ballim said the forum had sent mandates to the unions rejecting the department’s latest occupation specific dispensation wage proposal, which amounted to an increase of around 4 percent or R400 without addressing working conditions.

However, apart from the PSA, pharmacists had been left “in the dark” by unions after trying in vain for the past two weeks to communicate with their representatives.

Ballim said 300 signatures rejecting the occupational specific dispensation proposal had been faxed to the unions.

“They are not answering their phones and are not willing to provide information. We have sought legal advice from labour lawyers and if the unions go ahead and sign we are willing to take them to court.

“We get such bad support from these unions and are looking to form our own union so that we have one voice.”

Ballim said pharmacists hoped the department and unions could re-negotiate the proposal and wanted a pharmacist to represent them at the bargaining chamber as they presently did not have a colleague who understood their demands representing them.

Ballim said pharmacists also felt “neglected” by the department and would like a task team set up to investigate staffing issues and working conditions.

He said pharmacists had sent SMSes to Health MEC Sibongiseni Dhlomo in an effort to alert him to their unhappiness with working conditions, which had also been highlighted in their memorandum to the unions.

“We are exposed to all these (sick) patients and pick up diseases like TB and yet we are treated like we are worthless. The MEC has not paid much attention to pharmacists to find out what is wrong. It’s a provincial problem where we are short-staffed and do not have enough equipment,” Ballim said.

Dhlomo said pharmacists should write to him to request a meeting.

“It’s unprofessional to send an SMS and to expect a response from me. I have not received anything formal from them except for one letter from Prince Mshiyeni Hospital from a pharmacist’s assistant,” Dhlomo said.

Hospersa spokesman Lucas Mahlake said the union’s national office had received the pharmacists‘ mandate and would not be signing the proposal.

“Our provincial office talks to members on the ground,” Mahlake said.

Nupsaw provincial treasurer Siphiwe Gumbi said the union was not going to sign the proposal and all its registered members had been updated via SMS.

Nehawu provincial secretary Zola Saphetha said the union’s estimated 220 pharmacists in all provinces “seemed to be accepting the proposal” although there were issues relating to the practical implementation of the proposal and the way increases would be implemented that needed “tidying up” before the agreement could be signed.

He said the union had communicated with members telephonically and via email and had convened a meeting with about 300 pharmacists on July 15.

• • This article was originally published on page 5 of Daily News on August 03, 2009

Pharmacists reject wage offer is a post from: Pharmacy in jobs, news, schools