Pink Sheet is part of Pharma Intelligence UK Limited

This site is operated by Pharma Intelligence UK Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 13787459 whose registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. The Pharma Intelligence group is owned by Caerus Topco S.à r.l. and all copyright resides with the group.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use. For high-quality copies or electronic reprints for distribution to colleagues or customers, please call +44 (0) 20 3377 3183

Printed By

UsernamePublicRestriction

APhA REORGANIZATION PLAN DIVIDES ALL MEMBERS INTO THREE ACADEMIES FOR PRACTITIONERS, SCIENTISTS, STUDENTS; PROPOSAL "FUNDAMENTAL" TO STRATEGIC PLANNING

Executive Summary

The American Pharmaceutical Assn. (APhA) is proposing a total reorganization that would group all members into one of three academies forming the assn.'s underlying structure, according to a plan formally announced at an Oct. 15 press briefing. Under the proposal all APhA members will choose membership into one of three academies: the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences (APS), the Academy of Pharmacy Practice (APP), or the Academy of Students of Pharmacy. The Academy of Pharmacy Management will revert to the Practice Management Section of the APP under the plan. In a statement by APhA Chairman James Main, read by Schlegel in Main's absence, the assn. said: "By making academy and APhA membership one and the same and by organizing the entire membership into three academies, it is possible to utilize the academies as vehicles for planning and evaluating APhA programs." The proposal, presented in a brochure entitled "Meeting the Challenge of Change" and sent on Oct. 11 to all assn. members for comment, is designed essentially to increase grassroots participation by the entire membership and to centralize control of the assn. at APhA headquarters. Under the proposed reorganization the assn. will "function as a cohesive organization of varied interests with a single, strategic planning center," Main said. The plan "allows broader and more formally structured member input into the deliberations of the board of trustees and the house of delegates." After reviewing comments from APhA" membership, the assn.'s board will vote on the plan. Any bylaw amendments necessitated by the reorganization will have to be approved by a vote of the membership "by early next year," the brochure points out. Each academy will have a coordinating council to appoint academy members to standing cmtes. responsible for one of four assn. activities -- policy, education, publications, and awards. Each council will coordinate the functions of its four cmtes. Through this structure, each academy will report to one of four APhA advisory cmtes. -- for policy, education, communications, and honors -- which make recommendations to the assn.'s board of trustees. ]EDITORS' NOTE: See chart for graphic representation of APhA's proposed reorganization.[ APhA's PROPOSED REORGANIZATION PLAN The following chart, representing APhA's reorganization proposal, is adapted from a table contained in a brochure which the assn. mailed to its membership on Oct. 11. The deadline for members' comments is Nov. 15. ]SEE ORIGINAL SOURCE[ The coordinating council and standing cmtes. of each academy will "determine the bulk of" academy activities, Main said, although academies will no longer be governed by their own officers or exec cmtes. Asked why the plan would eliminate academy officers, a proposal opposed by APS members("The Pink Sheet" Oct. 7, p. 7), Schlegel replied that academy members are already represented by elected APhA officials and that representation by elected academy officials would be superfluous under the reorganization. "We no longer have a situation where we have academies that are entities within APhA; academy membership and APhA membership are one and the same," he explained. "So the need for specific officers for those segments of the assn. is not as great. The shift has been to move away from the representation of those individuals by a relatively small number of people to a greater involvement of a large number of those members in those four areas: policy, education, publications, and awards." The assn. president asserted that APhA can "nurture" scientists and their concerns only within the context of pharmacy. "Our fundamental purpose in life is pharmacy. To the extent that we can help our members to develop themselves, help them become better practitioners. . .within the context of pharmacy, that's appropriate," he said. However, "when it begins to move outside the context of pharmacy, I think it's legitimate to say, 'Is that really something APhA ought to nurture? That's a question that an organization always must ask itself because it's got limited resources." Some APS members have claimed the right to secede and establish an affiliated American Assn. of Pharmaceutical Scientists," Schlegel noted. He replied that such a session would not alter APhA's plans for the APS. "If individual members of the APS or any other subdivision of the assn. . . find that their needs are not met with APhA, they have the opportunity, the right, and I guess the responsibility to themselves to do whatever they want," he said. However, the APS "is a part of APhA and will remain a part of APhA and will be considered in the restructuring of APhA." Whether individuals vote to remain or leave is not at issue, Schlegel added. "All the power, all the authority that is in that subdivision and all subdivisions flows from the governing documents of the assn." Main contended in his prepared remarks that the identification of exactly "whom the assn. represents is fundamental to planning," a key to the proposal is a redefinition of APhA membership. The brochure states that licensed pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, pharmaceutical educators, pharmacy assn. and industry execs and representatives, and pharmacy students will be eligible for active membership." The proposal was developed by the board following an analysis of the profession and the assn. by the Boston consulting firm Gray-Judson, and its president and chief exec, Daniel Gray, PhD, who was the principal consultant working with APhA. After interviewing "focus groups" of various segments of the assn., the firm reported "recurring complaints" that there was "insufficient direct membership participation in planning APhA programs and activities," the brochure states. "Instead of functioning as a single strategy center promoting specific cohesive professional goals, APhA was perceived as a conglomerate managing member subgroups often pursuing separate objectives." Administrative changes within the APhA staff, as well as development of the proposal, were prompted by the 10 months' work of the consultants, Main pointed out. The entire board of trustees has signed on to the proposal except for Rinaldo Brusadin. Chart omitted.

You may also be interested in...



Part D Discount Liability Coming Into Focus: CMS Releases Drug Cost Data

Newly released Medicare Part D data sheds light on the sales hit that branded pharmaceutical manufacturers will face when the coverage gap discount program gets under way in 2011

FDA Skin Infections Guidance Spurs Debate On Endpoint Relevance

FDA appears headed for a showdown with clinicians and the pharmaceutical industry over the proposed new clinical trial endpoints for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, the guidance's approach for justifying a non-inferiority margin and proposed changes in the types of patients that should be enrolled in trials

Shire Hopes To Sow Future Deals With $50M Venture Fund

Specialty drug maker Shire has quietly begun scouting deals with a brand-new $50 million venture fund, the latest of several in-house investment arms to launch with their parent company's pipelines, not profits, as the measure of their worth

Latest Headlines
See All
UsernamePublicRestriction

Register

PS009098

Ask The Analyst

Ask the Analyst is free for subscribers.  Submit your question and one of our analysts will be in touch.

Your question has been successfully sent to the email address below and we will get back as soon as possible. my@email.address.

All fields are required.

Please make sure all fields are completed.

Please make sure you have filled out all fields

Please make sure you have filled out all fields

Please enter a valid e-mail address

Please enter a valid Phone Number

Ask your question to our analysts

Cancel