100th Annual Meeting and Centennial Celebration Awards Ceremony Recognizes and Honors NABP Leaders

May 18, 2004 12:00 am

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®) is pleased to announce the winners of its annual awards. The recipients were honored during the Annual Awards Dinner and Dance at the Association's 100th Annual Meeting and Centennial Celebration, held in Chicago, IL, April 24-27, 2004. The following individuals were recognized for their tireless efforts and dedication to NABP.

2003-2004 Honorary President

This past year, NABP was honored to have John D. Taylor as its honorary president. Throughout the years, Mr Taylor has been actively involved in many NABP committees and task forces including the 2002 Task Force on Evaluation and Modification of NABP's Constitution and Bylaws, the 2001 Task Force on Privacy and Confidentiality, and the 2000 Task Force on Drug Diversion Through Institutional Outlets, to name a few. Currently, Mr Taylor is a drug inspector for Florida's Bureau of Statewide Pharmaceutical Services, where he works to protect the health of Floridians. Previously in his career, Mr Taylor served as executive director of the Florida Board of Pharmacy from 1990 to 2002. His numerous contributions have not gone unrecognized. Mr Taylor is a two-time winner of the University of Florida College of Pharmacy's Distinguished Service Pharmacy Alumnus Award. In addition, he was presented with the Gamma Sigma Chapter Kappa Psi Alumni Recognition Award in 2000.

2003-2004 President's Award

During the term of President Donna S. Wall, NABP's programs grew and expanded, defining the Association with a successful year and the introduction of new programs. She was honored this year with the 2003-2004 President's Award. Consistent with her belief that patient safety is one of the foremost concerns for the pharmacy profession and following in her mindset that the protection and safety of the public should be NABP's main concern, the Association has developed a new Patient Safety Initiative. Additionally, the Association has grown to include two new active members, the Florida Board of Pharmacy and the California State Board of Pharmacy. NABP began developing the Pharmacist-Self Assessment Mechanism™, one of the components of the new Continuing Professional Development program. The practice examination for the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination®, the Pre-FPGEE™, was launched with great success. A member of the Indiana Board of Pharmacy, Dr Wall is a clinical pharmacist for the Adult Critical Care unit at Indiana University Hospital. She received her bachelor of science in pharmacy degree from Butler University College of Pharmacy and her doctor of pharmacy degree from Purdue University School of Pharmacy.

2003-2004 Lester E. Hosto Distinguished Service Awards

NABP's Lester E. Hosto Distinguished Service Award is presented to those individuals whose contributions to the protection of the public health have, in the opinion of the Executive Committee, significantly furthered the goals and objectives of the Association. This year, two recipients were named: Elizabeth E. Hiner and Elaine M. Jones.

Captain Hiner joined Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1978 and moved up the ranks until being promoted to director of Pharmacy and Drug Programs for the Division of Federal-State Relations, Office of Regulatory Affairs. FDA liaison to NABP since 1992, Ms Hiner has worked side by side with the Association, embracing its mission of protecting the public health. A few of the issues and projects that Ms Hiner has collaborated on and with NABP include drug risk management programs; importation and the Internet; pharmacy compounding; the Medical Gas Regulation Awareness campaign; prescription drug bar coding; the Model Rules for Licensure of Wholesaler Distributors, which is part of the Model State Act Pharmacy Act and Model Rules of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy; counterfeit drugs and wholesalers; and the Evaluation of Written Prescription Information project. In addition, Ms Hiner organizes the presentations, agenda, and discussions at the annual FDA/NABP Meeting. She has served as an ad hoc member of the NABP Bureau of Voluntary Compliance Committee and chair of the United States Public Health Service Pharmacy Advisory Committee. Prior to joining FDA in 1978, she practiced pharmacy at the National Institutes of Health; the University of Virginia Hospital Pharmacy; and military, chain, and independent community pharmacies. She graduated from the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy and has completed postgraduate work at The Johns Hopkins University. Captain Hiner is certified in Public Health Pharmacy by the Royal Society of Health in England, and has received numerous awards from the US Public Health Service.

Since 1996, Elaine Jones has served as a compliance specialist with the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy and has worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of patients in her state. As a Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites™ program inspector, Ms Jones has spent countless hours performing inspections of pharmacies that have applied for the prestigious distinction of VIPPS certification. During her time at the Ohio Board, Ms Jones has conducted numerous investigations into drug diversion and frequently testified before grand juries and in other judicial settings. In addition, she served on the Ohio Board Rules Committee and wrote rules for new legislation regarding hospital pharmacy practice. Before joining the board of pharmacy in 1996, Ms Jones spent many years in a variety of pharmacy director positions as well as staff pharmacist positions in the hospital setting. She received a bachelor of science in pharmacy degree from Ohio State University and a master of business administration in finance from Xavier University in Ohio.

2004 Fred T. Mahaffey Award

In honor of the Association's Executive Director Emeritus, the Fred T. Mahaffey Award is presented to an individual state board of pharmacy in recognition of its commitment to the Association's mission and goals. This year, NABP is pleased to announce the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association (MPhA) as the 2004 Fred T. Mahaffey Award recipient for the Board's dedication and commitment to combating the illegal importation of drugs from Canada to the US. The most dramatic example of its mission to protect public health was the rejection of an amendment to the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Act that may have led to pharmacists recognizing the validity of prescriptions from US doctors. This decision was made despite tremendous pressure from provincial governments, the public, and other interest groups. The MPhA is the provincial pharmacy regulatory authority and presently licenses over 1,100 pharmacists and over 350 pharmacies in the province.

The MPhA was the first Canadian provincial licensing authority to implement "Internet Pharmacy Standards" requiring additional standards for the provision of care and medication at a distance. Also, the MPhA was the first provincial licensing authority to identify additional license criteria and an additional fee for International Prescription Service, or IPS, pharmacies that send medication to the US. Through the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities Web site, any consumer can confirm the licensing status of pharmacies located in Manitoba. In addition to the IPS issue, the MPhA has many other activities focusing on protection of the public health. A collaborative joint statement was established with the provincial medical licensing board for "Continued Care Prescriptions." This statement allows a pharmacist to safely continue chronic medication for his or her patients where prior approval is not possible due to the inaccessibility of the prescriber. The MPhA has truly addressed two of the most difficult public protection issues confronting boards of pharmacy today: medical errors and illegal Internet prescription medication activity.

Renee Renganathan