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Pharmaceutical Postline
note of approval Dear Sir: Your November issue of the APHA JOURNAL is excellent, excellent, excellent ... , I devoured it and I hope more will come to satisfy the appetite of a community practitioner for the pharmacological knowledge of the proprietaries he works with every day. My congratulations on a fine issue. George D . Denmark Pocasset, Massachusetts
'mandatory review' Dear Sir: Re the November issue of J APHA. The pharmacist should heed well the advice given in the two articles by Richard P . Penna and Dr. Arthur Grollman. All too many pharmacists would rather "make a sale" and sell some "push item" rather than listen to the patient's complaints and symptoms which are usually not as simple as they presented it in the beginning. We are truly the authorities on OTC medication, but due to the plethora of these preparations on the market the public as well as the pharmacist is getting brainwashed. The efficacy of many of these new forms is to be questioned not to mention that of the old standbys. I feel a mandatory review should be given to all graduate pharmacists on a yearly basis which would keep them abreast of the new medications and the changes in dosage forms whether they be OTC or:ij. I was pleased to see that Dr. Apple in the November 15 issue of Drug Topics stated he would like to see four weeks of continued education in residence annually. I think a great deal of consideration should be given to this idea. Charles J. Rochlin Los Angeles, California
education and guidance Dear Sir: I should like to express my appreciation for the November 1965 JOURNAL. I t was indeed welcome. The problems involved in either approving or rejecting advertising copy in the area of drugs and cosmetics are almost insurmountable and we often find ourselves in a quandary which is sometimes resolved only by personal opinions. Our routine investigations of products and companies often leave us 2
with no definite information to make a decision on and, therefore, any outside ma terial we can utilize in making a wise and careful decision, and one which keeps our readers' well-being in mind, is most valuable. It is almost impossible to keep up-to-date on the many and varied over-the-counter remedies which flood the market these days. Your JOURNAL, and its program to provide the education and guidance needed in this area, would seem to be the ideal solution. Just looking through this one issue, I found many useful and interesting items, which, I hope, may someday be basis for a recommendation to our editors concerning acceptance or rejection of advertising. We at lI!fcCaU's deeply feel the responsibility of careful and thoughtful consideration of all advertising before we print it and your JOURNAL will be an integral part of this care and thought. Many thanks. Susan Ellen Wyluda McCall's Magazine more complete labeling Dear Sir: Allow me to congratulate you on the home medications issue of the JOURNAL. I read with special interest and mental applause your fine editorial. It's very satisfying to know that ideas that have occurred to me are shared by leaders in our profession such as you and those you quote. As you point out, the formulas for OTC products are only found on the label; the manufacturers' catalogs contain only price information. However, even the label falls short, in my opinion, of furnishing enough information for a pharmacist to assess the therapeutic utility of most OTC's adequately. This shortcoming is due to the absence, with certain few exceptions, of a statement of the quantity of active ingredients in most of these products. I found this omission so glaring that I questioned FDA in this regard. Its recent reply (to my not so recent inquiry) was-
I think your comments on the need for a reference source of information on home remedies are well founded and I'm sure the articles planned for the J OURNAL will do much to fill this need. Henry A. Palmer Storrs, Connecticut
on continuing education Dear Sir: The emphasis on continuing education in recent issues of the JOURNAL is highly commendable. After many years experience with efforts to promote a program of continuing education at the local level, I am convinced that a new program is needed. In brief, the approach must be at least twofold1.
Efforts at the state wide level must be continued and this can best be done by our educational institutions. 2. A program at the national level must be a continuing and ongoing program. This can best be achieved by our national pharmaceutical journals.
Specifically, I wish to point out that the hospital pharmacists through the JOURNAL are doing an outstanding job of continuing education. It seems absurd to attempt to duplicate that kind of effort in 50 different state journals or media. The ultimate solution would be to have all pharmacists as members in APHA and the ASSOCIATION 'S JOURNAL carry a continuing education program that would fulfill basic needs. As one who has watched the development of JAPHA from the time of its inception, I wish to congratulate you on its continually improved format and content. Glenn L. Jenkins Lafayette, Indiana
The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act does not require the label of nonprescription drugs to declare the quantity of the active ingredients except for those drugs specifically stated in section 502(e) of the act.
a question of 'questions' Dear Sir: Your November 1965 installment of MedI-Quiz has a misleading question and answer. I refer to number five . From your wording one might get the impression that a vial of oral polio vaccine before it is opened can be stored at any temperature above zero degrees centigrade which is not true. M.A. Dougherty Bremen, Ohio
Fine, this answered the question, but let me propose another-why has this aspect of the law been ignored? What can we do to bring about more complete labeling?
Editor's note-It would have been better if we had stated question five thus: "Before opening t-he vial, oral polio vaccine should be stored contin uously below a temperature of. .. "
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
'mandatory review' Dear Sir: Re the November issue of J APHA. The pharmacist should heed well the advice given in the two articles by Richard P . Penna and Dr. Arthur Grollman. All too many pharmacists would rather "make a sale" and sell some "push item" rather than listen to the patient's complaints and symptoms which are usually not as simple as they presented it in the beginning. We are truly the authorities on OTC medication, but due to the plethora of these preparations on the market the public as well as the pharmacist is getting brainwashed. The efficacy of many of these new forms is to be questioned not to mention that of the old standbys. I feel a mandatory review should be given to all graduate pharmacists on a yearly basis which would keep them abreast of the new medications and the changes in dosage forms whether they be OTC or:ij. I was pleased to see that Dr. Apple in the November 15 issue of Drug Topics stated he would like to see four weeks of continued education in residence annually. I think a great deal of consideration should be given to this idea. Charles J. Rochlin Los Angeles, California
education and guidance Dear Sir: I should like to express my appreciation for the November 1965 JOURNAL. I t was indeed welcome. The problems involved in either approving or rejecting advertising copy in the area of drugs and cosmetics are almost insurmountable and we often find ourselves in a quandary which is sometimes resolved only by personal opinions. Our routine investigations of products and companies often leave us 2
with no definite information to make a decision on and, therefore, any outside ma terial we can utilize in making a wise and careful decision, and one which keeps our readers' well-being in mind, is most valuable. It is almost impossible to keep up-to-date on the many and varied over-the-counter remedies which flood the market these days. Your JOURNAL, and its program to provide the education and guidance needed in this area, would seem to be the ideal solution. Just looking through this one issue, I found many useful and interesting items, which, I hope, may someday be basis for a recommendation to our editors concerning acceptance or rejection of advertising. We at lI!fcCaU's deeply feel the responsibility of careful and thoughtful consideration of all advertising before we print it and your JOURNAL will be an integral part of this care and thought. Many thanks. Susan Ellen Wyluda McCall's Magazine more complete labeling Dear Sir: Allow me to congratulate you on the home medications issue of the JOURNAL. I read with special interest and mental applause your fine editorial. It's very satisfying to know that ideas that have occurred to me are shared by leaders in our profession such as you and those you quote. As you point out, the formulas for OTC products are only found on the label; the manufacturers' catalogs contain only price information. However, even the label falls short, in my opinion, of furnishing enough information for a pharmacist to assess the therapeutic utility of most OTC's adequately. This shortcoming is due to the absence, with certain few exceptions, of a statement of the quantity of active ingredients in most of these products. I found this omission so glaring that I questioned FDA in this regard. Its recent reply (to my not so recent inquiry) was-
I think your comments on the need for a reference source of information on home remedies are well founded and I'm sure the articles planned for the J OURNAL will do much to fill this need. Henry A. Palmer Storrs, Connecticut
on continuing education Dear Sir: The emphasis on continuing education in recent issues of the JOURNAL is highly commendable. After many years experience with efforts to promote a program of continuing education at the local level, I am convinced that a new program is needed. In brief, the approach must be at least twofold1.
Efforts at the state wide level must be continued and this can best be done by our educational institutions. 2. A program at the national level must be a continuing and ongoing program. This can best be achieved by our national pharmaceutical journals.
Specifically, I wish to point out that the hospital pharmacists through the JOURNAL are doing an outstanding job of continuing education. It seems absurd to attempt to duplicate that kind of effort in 50 different state journals or media. The ultimate solution would be to have all pharmacists as members in APHA and the ASSOCIATION 'S JOURNAL carry a continuing education program that would fulfill basic needs. As one who has watched the development of JAPHA from the time of its inception, I wish to congratulate you on its continually improved format and content. Glenn L. Jenkins Lafayette, Indiana
The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act does not require the label of nonprescription drugs to declare the quantity of the active ingredients except for those drugs specifically stated in section 502(e) of the act.
a question of 'questions' Dear Sir: Your November 1965 installment of MedI-Quiz has a misleading question and answer. I refer to number five . From your wording one might get the impression that a vial of oral polio vaccine before it is opened can be stored at any temperature above zero degrees centigrade which is not true. M.A. Dougherty Bremen, Ohio
Fine, this answered the question, but let me propose another-why has this aspect of the law been ignored? What can we do to bring about more complete labeling?
Editor's note-It would have been better if we had stated question five thus: "Before opening t-he vial, oral polio vaccine should be stored contin uously below a temperature of. .. "
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION