[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 127 (Friday, October 8, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S10837]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       AMERICAN PHARMACISTS MONTH

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I would like to take this 
opportunity to acknowledge American pharmacists during American 
Pharmacists Month. Pharmacists play an important role in our health 
care system. Their contributions to the care of our country's citizens, 
especially our seniors, are key to the health of Americans.
  Pharmacists are medication experts within our Nation's health care 
workforce. Each day, their efforts assist in improving the use and 
effectiveness of medications. Pharmacists are improving health care in 
community pharmacies, hospitals and health systems, nursing homes, 
hospice, and in patient's own homes through home-infusion therapies, as 
well as the uniformed services, the government, and in research and 
academic settings.
  Pharmacists work towards making sure that consumers safely administer 
their medications, and to provide them with crucial information 
pertaining to possible side effects or complications of taking multiple 
medications. Pharmacists assist in providing the most effective 
combinations of prescription drugs to those who take more than one 
prescription at a time. Pharmacists are a critical part of our health 
care system and should be recognized and commended this month for their 
important role.
  During the course of the debate on the Medicare prescription drug 
bill, I introduced a medication therapy management, MTM assessment 
amendment, which I was pleased to see accepted in the Senate passed 
version of the Medicare bill. While the amendment was not included in 
the version sent to the President for his signature, I was pleased to 
see an MTM program component incorporated. Establishment of such a 
program would allow pharmacists, in conjunction with physicians, to 
assist beneficiaries who have various chronic conditions manage their 
medications. Pharmacists will be able to help ensure that patients use 
medications appropriately, enhance the patient understanding of such 
medications and help reduce the risk of adverse reactions to drugs. 
Such a program highlights the important role that pharmacists play in 
helping Medicare beneficiaries to reduce the costs of prescription 
drugs.
  As prescription drug prices continue to climb, it is all too 
important that we continue to support efforts that will help to 
alleviate this burden. As noted, pharmacists are a critical component 
of our health care workforce and therefore need to be provided with the 
tools that help them to best serve the public, as well as to continue 
to combat the rising prices of prescription drugs. During American 
Pharmacists Month, I call on my fellow Senate colleagues to join in a 
bipartisan effort to support our pharmacists by acknowledging and 
commending their hard work and dedication towards improving the 
effectiveness and overall cost of health care.

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