Editorial: Presidents' Day and Washington's Birthday: Which is Which?

Look at the following dates:

February 12 Lincoln's Birthday
February 15 Presidents' Day
February 22 Washington's Birthday

Is Washington's birthday the same as Presidents' Day? No, it isn't. We have adjusted and altered these dates for our convenience so some can have a 3-day weekend (if you work for the government, etc.)

*Lincoln's birthday is actually on February 12.
*Washington's birthday is actually on February 22.
*Presidents day is celebrated on the third Monday of February.

Washington's Birthday is the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen and is celebrated on his actual birthday. A proposed bill in 1968 (Uniform Holidays Bill) would have previously renamed it to Presidents' Day to honor the birthdays of both Washington and Lincoln, but this proposal failed. The Uniform Monday Holiday Act in 1971 moved it to the third Monday of February.

George Washington, referred to as "The Father of his country," is celebrated for his leadership in the founding of our nation. He was seen as a leader that could unify the new republic and set an example for future holders of the office. Who could ever forget the statement attributed to him, "I cannot tell a lie." My how things have changed!

As we honor his birthday not only for "who" Washington was and "what" he did, we also should take the opportunity to honor our country's veterans and those currently serving our country, both here and throughout the world. Thank you!


Loyd V. Allen, Jr., PhD, RPh
Editor-in-Chief

Rod Shafer Leaves as IACP's CEO
The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP) announced that Rod Shafer, RPh, will be stepping down as CEO as of February 18, 2010. Paul Levesque, RPh, FACA, FIACP, will be the interim CEO during the transition and search.

"The IACP leadership position was a great opportunity for me to help promote and advance personalized medication solutions to improve patient health," Shafer stated. "I look forward to continuing that advocacy and supporting this important component of pharmacy practice in the future, and am confident that Paul will provide the leadership needed to meet the Academy's goals and objectives."

The interim CEO, Paul Levesque, is currently CEO and President of the Manchester Group, LLC, a privately held company taking OTC compounded, natural products through clinical trials. He is owner of Innovative Pharmacy Strategies LLC, a pharmacy business consulting firm, and cofounder of Genosphere Bioformulators, a formulation incubator company.

Drug Makers Concerned with Indian Patent Law
After India agreed to respect intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical products, multinational drug companies entered in a big way into India in recent years. However, India's patent office and courts have repeatedly declined to defend patents widely accepted in many other countries on some of the world's best-selling medicines. This means the multinational pharmaceutical firms have been thrown a curve ball as they seek to expand in one of the world's fastest-growing markets.

As a recent example, Bayer AG failed this week to persuade the Delhi High Court to direct India's chief drug regulator (the equivalent to the FDA) to not give marketing approval to a competitor's copy of its cancer medicine Nexavar. Other drugs that have failed to win protection from India's patent office in the judicial system include the top-selling anticancer treatment Glivec from Novartis SA; anticancer drug Tarceva from Roche SA; and HIV medicine Viread from Gilead Sciences Inc.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870345
5804575057621354459804.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Top Pharmaceutical Industry (PhRMA) Lobbyist Quits
As the industry's top lobbyist, Mr. Billy Tauzin brokered the deal last summer with the White House to limit the drug industry's total costs under the proposed health care overhaul to $80 billion over 10 years.

As one of the highest paid lobbyists in Washington, he is resigning as president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), amid internal disputes over its pact with the White House to trade political support for favorable terms in the proposed health care overhaul. Under his direction, PhRMA backed up its end of the deal by spending more than $100 million on ads to promote the overhaul of the healthcare system.

The details of the deal with the White House were initially undisclosed by Mr. Tauzin and the Obama administration. However, when Congress began to possibly allow importation of cheaper drugs from Canada or decreasing the industry's years of exclusive rights to biological drugs-Mr. Tauzin publicly accused the White House of failing to hold up its end of a quid pro quo.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/12/health/policy/12pharma.html

Dietary Supplements, Pocket Companion
Mason, P
London, UK: Pharmaceutical Press; 2009
278 pages

Dietary Supplements, Pocket Companion is an easy-to-use/carry quick reference that is a summary of the larger, fully referenced comprehensive text, Dietary Supplements. This pocket book provides evidence-based, practice-relevant information in a concise and conveniently sized book and is useful for information covering commonly used vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements.

In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the interest and demand for alternative or complementary medical treatments. The annual market for dietary supplements is over �300 million in the UK alone, but the use of vitamins, minerals and other products as dietary supplements is still controversial, particularly in relation to their safety and efficacy.

This revised and expanded edition:

• Contains monographs on 82 commonly available dietary supplements.
• Presents research findings on the therapeutic use of these products.
• Discusses the law relating to dietary supplements in the UK, Europe and the USA.
• Reliably informs on efficacy and safety.
• Covers human requirements and dietary sources of various vitamins and minerals.
• Includes an appendix highlighting potential interactions with conventional medicines.

�that more than a quarter of new prescriptions are unfilled, especially when the drugs are for symptomless conditions, according to a study published online February 4 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The study involved 75,589 patients under the care of 1,217 physicians.
http://www.springerlink.com/content/v3t50j5188k34p5x/?p=65be60d34efd4018ac488eee8b2afa9a&pi=6

Customer Service

Consider hiring a full or part-time customer service representative. This position can conduct follow-up telephone calls, e-mails, and other means of communications to promote your pharmacy not only to your patients, but also to physicians, clinics, etc.