National speaker to address Medicare drug reform

Susan Winckler, staff counsel of the American Pharmacists Association, will speak on the “Medicare Drug Benefit: Threat, Opportunity or Both,” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18, for this year’s Allen I. White Lecture.

Presented by the Washington State University College of Pharmacy at WSU Spokane, the free public lecture will be in the Phase I Classroom Building auditorium, 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd., on the Riverpoint campus.

To ensure seating, attendees need to contact Joyce Harbison, 509-358-7667or harbison@wsu.edu. Pharmacy continuing education credit is available. A reception will precede the lecture at 5:30 p.m. For details see http://www.events.spokane.wsu.edu. A registered pharmacist and attorney, Winckler will:

• review the pharmacy-relevant portions of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 and proposed regulations
• identify the threats and opportunities the act presents for pharmacists
• discuss implementation and ongoing issues with the Medicare-approved prescription drug discount card.

The American Pharmacists Association is the first and largest national professional society of pharmacists. In her capacity as vice president and staff counsel, Winckler is responsible for coordinating the association’s legislative, regulatory and private sector advocacy agenda and communication programs. She serves as the primary spokesperson for the association for media interviews and is the senior lobbyist for the association on Capitol Hill.

The Allen I. White Lecture was established by College of Pharmacy professors Charles Martin and Vishnu Bhatia as a tribute to college dean Allen I. White upon his retirement in 1979 and has been supported by significant gifts from a number of donors, including Allen and Edith White. As dean, White felt it was important to give pharmacy students greater exposure to healthcare training and issues. This was the rationale behind both the clinical training program in Spokane and the Allen I. White Lectureship, which brings experts to WSU to discuss healthcare topics with faculty and students.