News flash! Late Thursday afternoon, I received a text message from pharmacist Scott Giberson telling me that he had just been named Acting Deputy U.S. Surgeon General! In addition, RADM Boris D. Lushniak, MD, MPH, has been named the Acting U.S. Surgeon General.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, the 18th Surgeon General and a friend of the profession, had announced she would step down. Her last day was July 16.

Giberson and Lushniak presented the keynote speech at the Second General Session at the 2012 APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in New Orleans, where they asked whether provider status was within the reach of pharmacists. Pharmacy Today profiled Giberson in a December 2012 cover story. The SurgeonGeneral.gov website provides biographical information on both Giberson and Lushniak.

This is a fantastic development to have such strong supporters of pharmacy in these important leadership positions!