Last night, a small but committed group of pharmacy advocates in the Patient Access to Pharmacists’ Care Coalition gathered to celebrate our collective continued work together with our Association members and pharmacists who are working with us to gain passage of S. 314 and H.R. 592, the Pharmacy and Medically Underserved Areas Enhancement Act. We originally scheduled the happy hour gathering to mark 230 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, but by the time we gathered last night, we were up to 242. And now we have 36 cosponsors in the Senate! All pharmacists in America can be proud of the way your national and state organizations are working together to help our patients and consumers gain access to the much-needed medication optimization services we have to offer. While the organizations are working well together, we couldn’t do it without the active engagement of the individual members who make up these organizations. The many visits to Capitol Hill by our members have been essential to this progress.

On that point, today, I'd like to give a nod to Indiana pharmacists who worked together to gain the cosponsorship by Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) of S. 314. On any given day, I could give a nod to virtually every state and the pharmacists who have taken the time to write letters or make calls or visits to help our Members of Congress and Senators understand the critical needs of our patients for assistance in the effective use of their medications. Today, I'm singling out Randy Hitchens, the state exec in Indiana, because his e-mail caught me this morning after our coalition’s lobbyists met to celebrate. The message is simple. We’re all in this together, and it's about our patients! 

Please help us keep up the momentum. If you haven't written a letter yet, we've made it easy. Go to www.pharmacist.com and get it done!