Pharmacists Raise Awareness of Medication Misuse

Independent pharmacists fromLouisiana and Massachusetts and theNew Jersey and North Carolina Associationsof Pharmacists have joined thePharmacists for the Protection of PatientCare (P3C) coalition of pharmacists.The nonprofit organization's goal is toeducate federal lawmakers and the publicabout the cost-critical health implicationsof not taking medication asdirected.

The growing effort emphasizes theheightened sense of urgency felt by thenation's pharmacists to raise awarenessof medication misuse, its impact onpatients nationwide, and the solutionspharmacists can apply to stop patientsfrom misusing medications.

The coalition supports widespreadimplementation of Medication TherapyManagement Programs (MTMPs) inpharmacies across the United States.MTMP allows pharmacists to helppatients more effectively manage theirmultiple medications and ensure thatseniors receive the full therapeutic outcomesof drugs.

"This swell of support demonstratesthe pharmacy community's commitmentto making medication misuse atop priority in the public and politicalsphere. It will increase our ability toeffect change at the Federal level, helpingprevent needless deaths caused bythe avoidable problem of medicationmisuse," said Ian E. Salditch, chief lobbyistfor P3C and chief executive officerof Medicine-On-Time.