NEW ORLEANS — At the American Pharmacists Association’s (APhA) Annual Meeting and Exposition here, the Cardinal Health Foundation and APhA received the inaugural APhA GenerationRx Award of Excellence, which honors a pharmacist for outstanding efforts in the prevention of prescription drug abuse.
The Cardinal Health Foundation said Monday that the 2012 recipient is Megan Thompson, PharmD, director of Advanced Professional Pharmacy Experiences (APPE) at the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy. She was chosen in recognition of her work informing local schools and the community about the dangers of drug abuse, especially prescription drug misuse and abuse.
"We are excited to recognize pharmacists who are leading the way when it comes to raising awareness of this important public health issue," Elizabeth Cardello, director of corporate alliances at APhA, said in a statement. "APhA’s partnership with the Cardinal Health Foundation has made a strong impact on the ability of pharmacists and student pharmacists to educate their communities about the dangers of prescription drug abuse."
APhA also awarded the second annual GenerationRx National Award, which recognizes use of the GenerationRx tool kit, a turnkey communications package with talking points, presentation materials and tips to help users to raise awareness of prescription drug abuse in their communities.
The award is part of a competition among the 123 APhA Academy of Student Pharmacist Chapters. The top five chapters in this year’s competition are the D’Youville College School of Pharmacy, Ohio Northern University Raabe College of Pharmacy, Union University School of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy and University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
The awards mark a continuation of the APhA and Cardinal Health Foundation partnership to prevent the abuse and misuse of prescription medicines.
"We’re pleased to be able to recognize Dr. Thompson and these leading student pharmacist chapters, because we believe that pharmacists and student pharmacists can play an important role in helping parents, educators, community leaders and teens better understand the dangers of prescription drug abuse," stated Jessica Lineberger, manager of the Cardinal Health Foundation. "We appreciate and are inspired by their work in prevention, and we look forward to our continued collaborative efforts with APhA in order to be able to help pharmacists and students like these in the fight to save thousands of lives through prescription drug abuse prevention."
