- Email: [email protected]
New California School Not Needed
LET T E R S
Nevv California School Not Needed I am seeking the help of all pharmacists and pharmacy associations to halt the creation and opening of a new school of pharmacy at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, in Pomona, Calif., a mere 37 miles from the University of Southern California School of Phannacy. I believe that it is scheduled to open in 1997. Those pharmacists unable to fmd full-time work in southern California will join me in questioning the need for another school of pharmacy in the state. The current surplus of pharmacists in southern California has caused salaries to stagnate over the past five years in all but a few chain pharmacies; in most cases, salary increases have not even kept up with inflation. Work experience has almost no monetary value to employers. Phannacy employment, especially in southern California, is bleak. Jean Paul Gagnon, director of Global Health Economic Policy at Marion Merrell Dow Inc., says, "There will still be some attrition of independents in the community pharmacy area and growth of chains, with more consolidation among AMERICAN PHARMACY
them" (Pharmacy Today, January 1,1995, page 8). He predicts "continued consolidation of hospital pharmacy, downsizing of staffs and integration with other hospitals." Population growth may seem to indicate the need for another phannacy school in southern California. However, the advent of robotics, the increased number of registered pharmacy technicians, the limited number of available "clinical" positions, the elimination of pharmacist positions, and the increase in technician positions, all show the difficulty of maintaining a profit margin in light of decreasing reimbursement. The profession is moving from dispensing products to providing pharmaceutical care, but current opportunities of receiving adequate compensation for providing pharmaceutical care are limited, and insurance companies show little interest in changing their payment systems. In fact, Medi-Cal has cut pharmacy reimburs'ements to 1980 levels, while the pharmacist's operational expenses continue to rise. Pharmacists should be treated as profeSSionals, paid as highly educated skilled professionals, and regarded by the health care system, which includes insurance companies, as offering a valued service to their patients. Is there a need for another school of pharmacy in California? I think not! Douglas Barcon, PharmD APhAMember 1977-95 Diamond Bar, Calif.
What to Say to Manufacturers' Representatives Phannaceutical companies are shortsighted in offering "class of trade" discounts to large purchasers of drugs, even though buying groups for smaller pharmacies buy the same quantities or more. Even the prices to overseas purchasers are shamefully below what I have to pay. North American Pharmaceutical Services (NAPS), a Mexico-based mail service company, offers retail prices to consumers that are less than half of the average wholesale price (AWP) that a company charges me. For example:
choose your company's products. Joe H Howell, Pharmacist Dowagiac Pharmacy Dowagiac, Mich.
Corrections The letter from Patricia Denniston (Am Pharm., November 1994, page 4) incorrectly suggests that the
American Journal ofHospital Pharmacy (A]HP) endorses the reference, Physicians GenRx. Paragraph 2, sentence 2, should begin, "A reviewer of the book (Wayne S. Burkle) expressed the following opinions about the reference in a review published inAJHP: .... JJ
Product NAPS AWP Atrovent inhaler 15 mL $12.44 $29.00 Axid 150 mg each 0.89 1.41 Axid 300 mg each 1.77 2.63 Pepcid 20 mg 0.87 1.34 Premarin .625 mg each 0.24 0.39 Premarin 1.25 mg each 0.24 0.50 Premarin 2.5 mg each 0.39 1.59 Tagamet 200 mg each 0.24 0.80 Tagamet 300 mg each 0.35 0.90 Tagamet 400 mg each 0.36 1.40 Tenormin 50 mg each 0.25 0.83 Zantac 150 mg each 0.97 1.59
I suggest that pharmacists have their manufacturers' representatives pass along the following to their superiors:
Keep your pens, sticky pads, and plastic trinkets. Instead, start treating me as an equal in your pricing structure. Today, I have become an active, not passive, distributor of prescription drug products. I am striving to make the best economic decision when I select a prescription drug. As long as drugs are priced discriminatively, I will not
II
In "Bone Marrow Transplantation-Part 2" in the December 1994 issue (page 71, column 1, paragraph 3), the phone number given for the newsletter for patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation should read (708) 831-1913.
Let Us Hear from You! We invite your comments on issues of interest to pharmacists or your responses to material in the journal. Send your letters of 250 words or less to: Editor, American Pharmacy, 2215 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20037-2985. Letters are edited and published at the editor's discretion.
April1995
Vol. NS35, No.4
Nevv California School Not Needed I am seeking the help of all pharmacists and pharmacy associations to halt the creation and opening of a new school of pharmacy at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, in Pomona, Calif., a mere 37 miles from the University of Southern California School of Phannacy. I believe that it is scheduled to open in 1997. Those pharmacists unable to fmd full-time work in southern California will join me in questioning the need for another school of pharmacy in the state. The current surplus of pharmacists in southern California has caused salaries to stagnate over the past five years in all but a few chain pharmacies; in most cases, salary increases have not even kept up with inflation. Work experience has almost no monetary value to employers. Phannacy employment, especially in southern California, is bleak. Jean Paul Gagnon, director of Global Health Economic Policy at Marion Merrell Dow Inc., says, "There will still be some attrition of independents in the community pharmacy area and growth of chains, with more consolidation among AMERICAN PHARMACY
them" (Pharmacy Today, January 1,1995, page 8). He predicts "continued consolidation of hospital pharmacy, downsizing of staffs and integration with other hospitals." Population growth may seem to indicate the need for another phannacy school in southern California. However, the advent of robotics, the increased number of registered pharmacy technicians, the limited number of available "clinical" positions, the elimination of pharmacist positions, and the increase in technician positions, all show the difficulty of maintaining a profit margin in light of decreasing reimbursement. The profession is moving from dispensing products to providing pharmaceutical care, but current opportunities of receiving adequate compensation for providing pharmaceutical care are limited, and insurance companies show little interest in changing their payment systems. In fact, Medi-Cal has cut pharmacy reimburs'ements to 1980 levels, while the pharmacist's operational expenses continue to rise. Pharmacists should be treated as profeSSionals, paid as highly educated skilled professionals, and regarded by the health care system, which includes insurance companies, as offering a valued service to their patients. Is there a need for another school of pharmacy in California? I think not! Douglas Barcon, PharmD APhAMember 1977-95 Diamond Bar, Calif.
What to Say to Manufacturers' Representatives Phannaceutical companies are shortsighted in offering "class of trade" discounts to large purchasers of drugs, even though buying groups for smaller pharmacies buy the same quantities or more. Even the prices to overseas purchasers are shamefully below what I have to pay. North American Pharmaceutical Services (NAPS), a Mexico-based mail service company, offers retail prices to consumers that are less than half of the average wholesale price (AWP) that a company charges me. For example:
choose your company's products. Joe H Howell, Pharmacist Dowagiac Pharmacy Dowagiac, Mich.
Corrections The letter from Patricia Denniston (Am Pharm., November 1994, page 4) incorrectly suggests that the
American Journal ofHospital Pharmacy (A]HP) endorses the reference, Physicians GenRx. Paragraph 2, sentence 2, should begin, "A reviewer of the book (Wayne S. Burkle) expressed the following opinions about the reference in a review published inAJHP: .... JJ
Product NAPS AWP Atrovent inhaler 15 mL $12.44 $29.00 Axid 150 mg each 0.89 1.41 Axid 300 mg each 1.77 2.63 Pepcid 20 mg 0.87 1.34 Premarin .625 mg each 0.24 0.39 Premarin 1.25 mg each 0.24 0.50 Premarin 2.5 mg each 0.39 1.59 Tagamet 200 mg each 0.24 0.80 Tagamet 300 mg each 0.35 0.90 Tagamet 400 mg each 0.36 1.40 Tenormin 50 mg each 0.25 0.83 Zantac 150 mg each 0.97 1.59
I suggest that pharmacists have their manufacturers' representatives pass along the following to their superiors:
Keep your pens, sticky pads, and plastic trinkets. Instead, start treating me as an equal in your pricing structure. Today, I have become an active, not passive, distributor of prescription drug products. I am striving to make the best economic decision when I select a prescription drug. As long as drugs are priced discriminatively, I will not
II
In "Bone Marrow Transplantation-Part 2" in the December 1994 issue (page 71, column 1, paragraph 3), the phone number given for the newsletter for patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation should read (708) 831-1913.
Let Us Hear from You! We invite your comments on issues of interest to pharmacists or your responses to material in the journal. Send your letters of 250 words or less to: Editor, American Pharmacy, 2215 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20037-2985. Letters are edited and published at the editor's discretion.
April1995
Vol. NS35, No.4