Brevard
County
Pharmacy Association Online Newsletter
October
2005
P.O.
Box 10054 Port St.John, Florida 32927 Tel:
VM 321-633-9579 www.brevardpharmacy.com
Officers:
Executive Committee:
President….…..…..Karen
Bills
Chairman…
Kas Ghayal
Member….Theresa Tolle
Secretary………….Jamie
Wilson
Member…. Kathy Petsos
Member…..Deborah Ledoux
Treasurer………….Jeff
Broxson
Member……Val Ingoldsby
Member…..Jim Dale
Program
Chair……Maggie Daly
Member……Chris Lent
Member……Mike Edwards
Newsletter……….Kim
Giacomelli, Jamie Wilson, and Scott Tomerlin
Continuing
Education
November
13- Dr
James Warren on Migraine Management, presented by Ortho McNeal. Location:
Imperial Hotel, Exit 191 off I-95.
Please
continue to dress in a professional manner for our meetings and be courteous
and considerate of your colleagues, our sponsors, and our C.E. presenters by
saving personal conversations until after our program is over. Thanks!
Health
Fair
·
October 8, 2005 9-11
·
Suntree United
Methodist
Church
,
7400 N Wickam Rd
,
Melbourne
·
Volunteer your time and share your knowledge
with the community!
·
Services being offered: Medication reviews,
blood pressure, cholesterol screening, flu shots, Medicare Part D discussions,
and much, much MORE!
·
AARP Presentation at 9:30 and 10:30 on
Medicare Part D
·
Contact Maggie Daly at mbd321@earthlink.net.
Do it today!!!!
We
have just had a last minute offer of a dinner and short (no CE) meeting at the
Island Pasta Company at 903 E.
New Haven Ave.
for Wednesday the 28th of September at 6:30 PM. Schering Plough has just had
Vytorin added to the Florida Medicaid approved list and want to tell us about.
In
This Issue
·
Scott’s Political Notes- A new addition,
check it out!
·
Interesting pharmacy history from our own
backyard
·
Cystic Fibrosis
Announcements
·
Newsletter will now be available on a
quarterly basis. Issues will be available in January, April, July, and
October. Important information will still be sent by e-mail as needed (PRN?!).
If you are not receiving a USPS edition and want a copy, then please contact
Kim or Jamie.
·
October 14 Women’s Health Fair at Sea Pines
·
RENEWAL. Membership renewal is due every
June-July!
·
To keep informed of important and up to date
changes involving your profession visit the Florida Pharmacy Association
website at www.pharmview.com
or our own Brevard County Pharmacy Association website at www.brevardpharmacy.com
If
you are having problems receiving your newsletter by e-mail or mail please
contact Kim Giacomelli at kgiaco@earthlink.net
or 321-242-2996 or 321-508-2742 or Jamie Wilson at FLASUNLVR@aol.com
or 321-242-2996
Advertisements
pertaining to pharmacy will be run in this newsletter. Anyone interested can
contact Kim Giacomelli at kgiaco@earthlink.net
On
a serious note
It
does not seem like a year passed already since we dealt with hurricane damage.
Unfortunately I must address this issue again due to Hurricane Katrina. The
following site provides information if you are interested in making a donation
of time, money, or goods. These are separate agencies, not linked to BCPA.
http://www.volunteerflorida.org/supportagencies.cfm#small
Laughter
is the best medicine
ACTUAL
MEDICAL CHART NOTES:
Occasional,
constant, infrequent headaches.
Patient was alert and unresponsive.
She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life until she got a
divorce.
Scott’s
Political Notes
Hello
everyone, my name is Scott Tomerlin. It is my pleasure to become a new member
to the Brevard County Pharmacy Association and I look forward to serving the
group in future events as a student member, and a soon to be pharmacist
member. I am currently in my fourth and final year of pharmacy school at
Mercer
University
. My wife and I are both pharmacy students and will be graduating in May,
2006. While a student at Mercer, I currently serve on the Student Leadership
Council of the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and am a past
President of the Student Council at Mercer. I have many different hobbies, but
one in particular has been keeping track of political issues both relating to
pharmacy and health care as a whole while a student at Mercer. An astute
pharmacist once was quoted by saying the phrase “Get into politics or get
out of pharmacy”. While this is meant in jest, it does hold to be very
truthful in legislative issues that have impacted our profession as of late.
With the passing of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2004 (MMA) and the
changes that have impacted our pharmacies and patients both directly and
indirectly, many have quickly realized that legislation can (and does!) shape
the pharmacy profession.
My
goal for this column is to highlight various bills and issues that are being
discussed both in the state of
Florida
as well as on Capitol Hill in
Washington
. Since the
Florida
general assembly is currently out of session, this issue will only highlight
bills that are being discussed in
Washington
. The format that I plan to use in future issues is to highlight 2 bills each
from the state of
Florida
and on Capitol Hill. It is my hope that you will find this informative and
will be able to take it with you to your various practices in an effort to
promote, advocate and educate your colleagues and patients on today’s
legislative issues that are shaping our profession tomorrow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National
Legislation
H.R.
1671
Also known as the “Community
Pharmacy Fairness Act of 2005” this legislation has gained momentum with
its introduction by Anthony Weiner D-NY. With its current 47 co-sponsors, this
bill would allow independent community pharmacists the ability to negotiate
with health plans and insurers in accordance with the National Labor Relations
Act through collective bargaining on contracts and services.
Status:
Pending in the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives as
of Aug. 2005. Of note, Florida Representative Robert Wexler D-FL is one of the
47 co-sponsors of this bill.
H.R.
840 Sect. 503B
Also known as the “Ryan Haight
Internet Pharmacy Consumer Act”, this piece of legislation would take
steps in regulating internet-operated pharmacies. This bill would give new
guidelines with respect to the sale of prescription drugs on the internet. For
the full language of how the bill reads, please refer to:
http://www.theorator.com/bills109/s399.html
Status:
Pending in the Health Subcommittee of the House of Representatives.
-Scott
Tomerlin
History
We
are fortunate enough to have members of the original
Brevard
County
Pharmacy Association. We might not be here without them! Take a look at this
story and see who you recognize. (Thank You, Sally Otero for your assistance.)
I
was a founding member of the Brevard Pharmacy Association. Together with
some more of the "old-timers" we thought it would be good to start
an association. There weren't very many pharmacists in
Brevard
County
at the time (and only a couple of women pharmacists). The time was the
early '60s. I was the first secretary..Isn't that chauvinistic?
I was working for Fulmer's Drugs in
Titusville
, and also some relief work in Fulmer's,
Cocoa
, and for Causeway Drugs (Tom Belvin) in
Cocoa
Beach
. Incidentally, at that time I was June Dyer.
Some of the other founders were Gene Sego (father of the present Gene Sego,
Titusville
), & old "Doc" Eaton, who worked for Ramage Drugstore in
Titusville
. Then there were Jim Gaskin, Jim Coleman, Jim McCarthy, and Virgil Miller in
Satellite
Beach
. From
Cocoa
, Mr. Campbell (Maurice Campbell's father) and ”Doc" Thomas
(who was the 1st pharmacist at Wuesthoff). From
Merritt Island
, Marcellus Benson, and from Melbourne and Eau Gallie, there were the
Coleman brothers, Louis and "Pep" Coleman, Lang Goodyear, Milton
Fulmer, Dick Canady and George Browning, and I am sure there were others.
Those of us from
Titusville
, carpooled to
Cocoa
, and we met in
Campbell
's Drugstore, downtown
Cocoa
. Later on, we rotated meeting places so that the entire county could be
close at one time or another. In
Melbourne
, we met at First Federal Bank (that is now Melbourne Eye Associates
building). In
Cocoa
Beach
we met at a restaurant at the east end of the Causeway, Ramon's (it was quite
famous but no longer exists). Then we met at some of the Cocoa Beach
Motels, and finally at the "Cork Lounge". Much to our surprise
and to the delight of the male pharmacists, the
Cork
changed their format to a "Topless Bar" overnight just before one of
our meetings. What a meeting that was! The meetings were monthly,
and on Sunday evening, so that most pharmacists could attend. There was
no 24 hour pharmacies in those days, and most closed on Sunday.
It was really cool being one of the few women pharmacists...all those men... I
guess you could say that I was a "Pioneer" woman pharmacist. I have
worked for independent pharmacies, owned my own store, worked for chains, and
finally (the best) became a Hospital Pharmacist.
I can remember doing relief work at a pharmacy in Cocoa Beach when I was
VERY pregnant, and being told by a customer that I should be at home and not
out where people could see me in that condition ....I told him that if I
weren't there he would not be able to get his prescription unless he drove all
the way to the mainland!
I can say that pharmacy has been very good to me, and I have enjoyed my long
and useful career.
Thank you for asking.
June Milton
Cystic
Fibrosis (CF)
How
many prescriptions have you dispensed for patients with Cystic Fibrosis? These
patients require a broad range of pharmaceutical products and visits to
various health care providers. Very few other disease states require attention
from pulmonologists, infectious disease, gastroenterologists and
endocrinologists. CF is a genetic disorder that affects the respiratory,
digestive and reproductive systems. There are approximately 30,000 people in
the
United States
with CF, 3,000 in
Canada
and 30,000 in other areas of the world. In the
U.S.
, there are approximately 2,500 new cases diagnosed each year. Currently,
there is no cure for CF, but there are many promising new treatments in use
and even more on the horizon. The median life expectancy for a person with CF
is now 32 and only thirty years ago, a CF patient was not expected to reach
adulthood! Many people even live into their fifties and sixties. Prescription
medications are a cornerstone in CF treatment. These patients experience
breathing problems, infections, digestive disorders, and diabetes.
CF
and Diabetes
The
pancreas may block up with mucus, but that does not directly stop insulin from
being allowed into the bloodstream. Enzymes are externally secreted out of the
pancreas into the early part of the small intestine. Insulin is internally
secreted into the bloodstream. After longtime damage to the pancreas caused by
enzymes not getting out properly (the enzyme-making part is towards the
interior of the pancreas), and the pancreas being eaten away at by the
enzymes, and therefore damaging the insulin-secreting part of the pancreas
(which is in the exterior part of the pancreas), then does decreased insulin
production and/or secretion become a problem. This may happen at an earlier or
later age for different CF patients, or may never happen at all, for some.
This is the typical incidence of Diabetes, but may not represent the onset of
Diabetes for all CF patients
CF
Specialty Pharmacy
Cystic
Fibrosis Services, Inc. (CF Services)
is
a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. CF Services
was established in 1988 as a specialty pharmacy to provide availability and
access to CF medications as well as assistance with the complex insurance
issues faced in obtaining these medications. Today, CF Services provides
personalized services, patient advocacy patient education and reimbursement
support to the CF community. CF Services carries an extensive line of
products, including but not limited to: pancreatic enzymes, nebulized
medications, inhalers, antibiotics, diabetes medications, transplant
medications and a variety of other prescription medications.
Sources:
www3.nbnet.nb.ca/normap/diabetes.htm
www.cysticfibrosis.com
Application
for Membership in
Brevard
County
Pharmacy Association
Make
Check payable to Brevard County Pharmacy Association and send to P.O. Box
10054 Port St John, FL 32927
Name________________________________Florida
Lic.#______________
Address_______________________________________________________
City________________________State_________Zip__________________
Home
Phone_____________________Work Phone____________________
Employed
By____________________Other State Lic._________________
Are
you a member of the Florida Pharmacy Association?________Other?______
E-Mail
Address________________________________________________
Yearly
Dues:
Paying Dues
Y
N
Pharmacist
$50
Remove from membership roll
Y
N
Technician
$10
Not active in Pharmacy profession
Y
N
Student
$10
Associate
Member $10
Please return to above
address to help us prepare current roster
