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Latest News
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APPE Student Feature - Brittany N. Galloway (February 2023)
Brittany N. Galloway, BSc, is a PharmD Candidate with Purdue University's College of Pharmacy. Brittany received her Bachelor of Science degree, with summa cum laude honors, from Howard University in 2016 and then served as a Fulbright Scholar in South Korea. Her hometown is Cherry Hill, New Jersey but she currently resides in Carmel, Indiana. Since first arriving at Purdue in 2019, and in preparation to become a future Pharmacy leader, Brittany has served as the Alumni Liaison for the Kappa Epsilon (KE) Pi Chapter, mentored students with the College of Pharmacy Peer Mentorship Program, served as the Chapter President of the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) for two years and she was also inducted into the Alpha Zeta Chapter of the Rho Chi Pharmacy Honor Society. Additionally, Brittany served as a Regulatory Affairs intern with Catalent Pharma Solutions, worked as a Clinical Pharmacy intern at Kroger and she now works as an Author of an ophthalmic medication database and as a Medication Therapy Management (MTM) intern with Cardinal Health (CAH). Brittany is a results-focused and detail-oriented professional student with a diverse skill set in biology, chemistry, and genetics. She is an avid researcher with expertise in laboratory testing and data collection and analysis. She is passionate about spreading awareness of the scientific aspects of healthcare to patients and providing education to multi-cultural and underrepresented populations. Brittany possesses notable interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving strengths with a desire to make a difference. While completing the IPA's Administration elective, Brittany supported the efforts to successfully pass Bill 1568 in the House Committee on Public Health. This Bill involves the prescription for hormonal contraceptives and aims to allow pharmacists to prescribe and dispense self-administered contraceptives.
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House Public Health Committee Passes HB 1568
The House Public Health Committee heard additional testimony today regarding HB 1568. As a reminder, this bill was heard during last week's Committee meeting, but due to a shortage of time, and to allow additional testimony, the bill was heard again. Although the opposition was strong, HB 1568 passed out of Committee 12-0 with bipartisan support. IPA President, Dr. Veronica Vernon, once again provided powerful testimony explaining the extensive clinical training students receive in all three of Indiana's pharmacy schools regarding contraceptives and about her own experiences in the VA prescribing contraception. IPA member Ashley Meredith, a Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Purdue University also testified. Dr. Meredith teaches contraceptives explained to legislators that pharmacists all across Indiana are, based on a Purdue survey, very interested in prescribing contraceptives in order to greatly improve access to birth control for underserved communities and to also help prevent unintended pregnancies.
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House Public Health Committee Hears HB 1445 and HB 1568
On Tuesday, February 7th, IPA traveled to the Indiana State House in Indianapolis to offer testimony on two bills. Our current IPA President, Dr. Veronica Vernon, provided this testimony. The first bill we testified in support of was HB1445 which is authored by Representative Ann Vermilion. It requires the department of insurance to issue a request for proposal to audit the prescription drug programs within the state employee health plan and the Medicaid program. The bill passed out of committee 13-0. The second bill that IPA testified in support of was HB 1568. It is authored by representative Elizabeth Rowray and aims to allow pharmacists who meet certain requirements to prescribe hormonal contraceptive patches and self-administered oral hormonal contraceptives. This is currently done in almost half the states. Due to time constraints, the Committee only had about 9 total minutes to hear testimony. The bill will be discussed again next Tuesday, February 14th. Thank you to everyone who has supported the IPA's initiatives to advance the profession of pharmacy!
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Legislative Day 2023
On January 24th, we hosted Legislative day at the Indiana State House. This event brought nearly 300 pharmacists, student pharmacists and pharmacy professionals from all around the state to Indianapolis to advocate for legislative changes that will affect pharmacy practice and patient care throughout Indiana. We had great representation from all three pharmacy schools in the state, with many students and faculty from Purdue, Butler, and Manchester. All these pharmacy professionals came together to express their support and interest in advancing pharmacist and technician responsibilities to increase access to patient care. Students from these schools and Wal-Mart pharmacy joined together to offer free health screenings to legislators. These screenings included blood pressure checks, along with blood glucose and cholesterol tests, as well as tobacco cessation counseling. The day consisted of some opening remarks from our president, Dr. Veronica Vernon, voicing our support and intentions of increasing quality of patient care. We also heard some remarks from several legislators, Rep. Ed Clere, Rep. Dr. Rita Fleming, and former representative and pharmacist, Sen. Ron Grooms. Each offered some words of support and encouragement for the bills that would affect pharmacist and technician responsibilities, women's health, and other healthcare related bills. Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, Suzanna Crouch also stopped by to say a few words about her appreciation for pharmacy throughout the state and encouraged our advocacy for more pharmacy involvement in healthcare. After this, all the attendees and legislators enjoyed a Chick-fil-A lunch and had the opportunity to talk to legislators about their personal stories in relation to these bills in legislation. 40 Legislators were in attendance! Thank you to everyone who attended and voiced their support to advance the Profession of Pharmacy!
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Indiana General Assembly 2023 Session Begins
January 9 marked the start of the Indiana General Assembly's 2023 session. Key legislative priorities for IPA this year are securing payment for pharmacists services in Medicaid; contraception prescribing authority; expanded immunization administration authority to include all FDA approved vaccines; and expanded technician roles, including "tech-check-tech." Starting the week of January 16, IPA will resume its weekly legislative updates, provided every Friday. These updates will be sent by email to members and are the primary way for you to know what is happening at the Statehouse concerning health care and pharmacy practice. Want to be informed, but not a member? You can join today by going here.
