Today has been a wild ride in the pharmacy world.
First, we got what we hope is our "big break" - a national publication finally took us seriously, and took some companies to task, not only for their treatment of us, but for endangering the American public.
Then we responded, furiously talking among ourselves about the implications of the NYT's robust reporting. Later, I published a quick list to help our disconcerted patients feel more secure about how to avoid the types of medicine errors referenced in the article. And then, CVS responded (I'll be responding to that myself in a separate post, likely tomorrow - I'm a little posted-out today!).
I've never before posted in such a flurry of activity here at the site, but I'm already working on my next related posts. This is just a quick one to say I found it so fitting that all this has come to pass on the exact one year anniversary of me building this site and publishing I'm done being quiet.
I can't tell you all how terrified I was to hit that Post button that night. But somehow, someone in New York read it. And they spread it. And through it, I've come to meet and network with so many amazing people who all share the same goals of fixing this mess we are in.
I want to share with you all a post from one of those people, Dr. Dan Hussar, author of The Pharmacist Activist newsletter. Dr. Hussar's January 2020 edition heavily focused on our responsibilities as pharmacists to take charge of what happens in our profession and throw away our apathy and pessimism to join together and advance the profession and protect our patients.
I want to encourage all of you to take that charge seriously, in whatever form that takes for you. Not everyone needs to run a whole website or blog or run for a leadership position. But everyone can do something, whether its networking with your colleagues, contacting legislatures, Boards of Pharmacy, Labor Boards, or professional associations, or even just sharing posts and advocating for your colleagues who work for companies that are so retaliatory they feel afraid to share.
Together, we can turn the tide- and it starts with public opinion.
Thanks everyone for an amazing year - here's to 2020 being even better!