PUBLISHER'S LETTER
NACDS Fires Back Through Its Rapid Response Program
In its latest effort to address inappropriate portrayals of community pharmacy through its newly created Rapid Response Program, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores has taken issue with a recent article in the legal publication The West Virginia Record, entitled "Pharmacies don't provide health care, Supreme Court rules,” which reports on a June 28, 2007 opinion of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The ruling deemed pharmacies unable to benefit from a 1986 law limiting damages awards in malpractice lawsuits against health care providers.
NACDS believes the Court misinterpreted the damages cap law, and should not call into question the role of pharmacists as health care providers.
NACDS noted that other West Virginia laws specifically list pharmacists as "health care providers." In fact, West Virginia licenses pharmacists as health care professionals. They are also recognized as health care providers in the Medicaid and Medicare programs.
In the letter responding to the Record, NACDS president and CEO Steven C. Anderson affirmed, “Community pharmacists are in fact among the most trusted health care professionals in the nation, serving on the front lines to assist patients with their health care needs. They undergo years of rigorous training in pharmacy schools where they learn how to provide important health care services. Much of a pharmacist's time is spent interacting with patients, identifying possible drug interactions and advising how to best use medications.”
Concluding the letter Anderson states, “Despite the court's flawed decision, patients can continue to rely on the community pharmacists they know and trust to help provide their health care needs.”
We applaud NACDS for their much needed Rapid Response Program. In this technological world we now live in — where news is instant and sometimes statements made without merit go unchallenged — it’s good to know that NACDS is filling that much needed gap.
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Until next time….
