American Institute of the History of Pharmacy

AIHP Affirms Support for the Pharmacy Profession's Stand Against Racial Injustice

AIHP’s Board of Directors has affirmed the Institute’s support for the “Stand Against Racial Injustice” announced by thirteen national pharmacy organizations in a joint statement on June 5, 2020.

Issued in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others, the joint statement of the national pharmacy organizations recognizes that:

Adding to the challenges of the global pandemic of COVID-19, which disproportionately impact communities of color, there is a greater public health crisis plaguing our country: racism and discrimination. People of color and other marginalized groups experience a continuum of systemic racism, discrimination, and injustices that result in ongoing health inequities created by numerous factors impacting social determinants of health.

The joint statement calls for “intentional dialogue and action” and commits the pharmacy profession to addressing health care disparities, providing education on social injustices and systemic challenges impacting health care, developing strategies to address health care disparities, and continuing dialogue among pharmacy organizations and stakeholders to identify and implement change.

Robert Buerki Receives AIHP's Robert P. Fischelis Award

AIHP’s Board of Directors has awarded the 2020 AIHP Robert P. Fischelis Award to Robert Buerki, PhD, RPh, for his extraordinary contributions to the Institute and the field of pharmacy history. Dr. Buerki, who has been an AIHP member for more than 55 years, has served the Institute in numerous leadership positions, including President and Secretary.

The AIHP Robert P. Fischelis Award is conferred by AIHP’s Board of Directors to persons or organizations that have had an important impact on the field of the history of pharmacy or on the well-being of the Institute. The award is given in honor of the late Robert P. Fischelis, a gifted leader of the pharmacy profession and a generous benefactor of the Institute.

Dr. Buerki is Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy, where he has taught history of pharmacy and professional ethics courses for many years. He received a BS in Pharmacy and a MS in Social Studies in Pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He earned a PhD from The Ohio State University.

Cycles and “Go-Rounds”: A Brief History of Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage

From the Collections is a recurring feature at aihp.org that highlights articles, artifacts, images, and other items of interest from AIHP publications and collections'

In 2020, Americans are heading to the polls. Just as Covid-19, the economy, and systemic racism will feature as significant issues, healthcare and, more specifically, Medicare outpatient prescription drug coverage will also no doubt continue to be of interest to voters.

This is not a new issue. Thirty years ago, John Coster wrote about this topic in Pharmacy in History, and his article, “Politics, Congress, and Outpatient Prescription Drug Coverage under Medicare: A Historical Review, 1965-1989” documented the, then, unsuccessful twenty-five year effort to add more robust prescription drug coverage to Medicare. AIHP is pleased to male this article available via open-access until the end of 2020.

Coster concluded that, “given the sudden changeability of the political winds,” the pharmacy profession should be prepared “for the possibility of another potential go-round” on the subject (p. 126). His analysis continued only through the end of the Reagan administration. But Medicare prescription drug coverage has remained a hot topic ever since, and this post will bring Coster’s historical analysis to the present.

AIHP Wants to Document Your COVID-19 Stories and Experiences

The American Institute of the History of Pharmacy is documenting and preserving pharmacy stories and experiences during the COVID-19 global pandemic for the benefit of future historians and scholars. We seek to record the effects of this public health emergency on all types of pharmacy experiences. We invite you to share your pharmacy stories, photos, videos, artifacts, and other documentation of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

You can participate in the AIHP COVID-19 Pandemic Pharmacy Historical Documentation Project either (1) by immediately sharing your thoughts/experiences and/or submitting digital materials or (2) by signifying your to intention to submit materials in the future. Please comply with all applicable local or state stay-at-home orders while self-documenting.

Please click the link below to learn more about participating in the AIHP COVID-19 Pandemic Pharmacy Historical Documentation Project.

Zellmer Continues to Serve AIHP as Advisor for Pharmacy Outreach

During his six years as AIHP’s President, William (“Bill”) Zellmer worked tirelessly to promote AIHP and its mission among his many contacts in the pharmacy profession. Bill’s term as President ended in November 2019, but his work for the Institute continues in his new volunteer role as AIHP’s Advisor for Pharmacy Outreach.

As his tenure as President was coming to a close, Bill worked with AIHP’s Executive Director Dennis Birke and incoming President W. Clarke Ridgway to define a new role that would allow him to continue his active support for AIHP. Those discussions laid the groundwork for Zellmer’s new role as AIHP’s Advisor for Pharmacy Outreach. AIHP’s Board of Directors formally appointed him to the position in February.

In his new role, Bill communicates with both individuals and organizations in the pharmacy profession about the work of the Institute. He gives particular attention to those who may be unfamiliar with the Institute. “I’m always surprised by the number of pharmacists who are unaware of AIHP and the work it does to preserve and explain the history of pharmacy,” Zellmer stated. “A simple conversation can cause a pharmacist to want more information about the Institute and, often, to become a member.” 

Black Lives Matter—Remembering Pharmacist-Author Ann Petry

From the Collections is a recurring feature at aihp.org that highlights articles, artifacts, images, and other items of interest from AIHP publications and collections.

The astonishing worldwide demonstrations precipitated by a police officer’s suffocation of George Floyd (May 25, 2020), a black man in Minneapolis, bring to mind the vast literature by black American authors that have exposed the malignancy of racial prejudice. One such author, Ann Lane Petry (1908-1997), was a pharmacist before gaining wide acclaim as a writer of novels, short stories, and children’s books.

In 1984, AIHP’s journal Pharmacy in History published an insightful article, "Ann Petry: From Pharmacist to Novelist," which assesses Petry’s writing, summarizing plot lines that involve pharmacists and drug stores and detailing her major themes of racism, sexism, and poverty. Written by Suzanne Poirier of the University of Illinois at Chicago and occasioned by Petry’s 1984 visit to the University at the invitation of the College of Pharmacy, the article also provides a brief biographical sketch of Petry. AIHP is pleased to make "Ann Petry from Pharmacist to Novelist" (Pharmacy in History 28, No. 1 (1986): 26-33) open access and available to all readers through the end of 2020.