Compounding Academy: Lessons from

Lessons From 2020

Andrew Mize, Pharm.D. Compounding Academy President

The year 2020 started with a lot of promise. After the U.S. Solicitor General, Noel Francisco, agreed with Arkansas in December 2019, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to Rutledge v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. We were on the docket for our case to be heard April 27th and hopefully score a big (and much-needed) win for Arkansas pharmacies and protection against the abuse PBMs dish out day after day.

Then in mid-March we were rocked by Covid-19 which quickly becameaglobal pandemicand immediatelyhad significant impacts on how we could operate our pharmacies. Masks (if you could get them) became the new normal and hand sanitizer quickly became like liquid gold. Schools closed and we all gained a new appreciation for what our teachers do on aday-to-daybasis.(I’mguessingteacherappreciationweek, will carry a bit more meaning next school year.) While much

of society shut down, Arkansas pharmacies (as essential businesses) kept doing our thing, serving patients. Through a combination of stick-to-itiveness and creativity, pharmacies acrossArkansasfigured outawaytostayopen and ensure that life-sustaining medications remained available.

While still in the middle of dealing with the coronavirus outbreak,ourcountryencounteredadifferentchallenge.The tragic and indefensible death of George Floyd on May 25th, sparked a public outcry heard across the nation and also right in our own backyard. Protests and marches by concerned citizens asking for action on racial injustice and the desire to improve race relations filled our streets. Unfortunately, criminal vandals also used this time to incite violence and the destruction of property. Innocent businesses were looted and innocent people were hurt. Even the Arkansas Pharmacists Association officeswerevandalized multipletimesand then setonfireonliveTV,likelysimplybecauseofitsproximityto the Capitol building.

As Arkansas pharmacists, we have never shied away from a challenge.Whetherit’safightagainsttheunethicalpractices of PBMs that threaten the very existence of independent pharmacy; a global pandemic that made words like social distancing and self-quarantine commonplace, or the recognition that despite the advancements our society has made with regards to race, we still have a lot of work to do.

One thing I am confident in –that the pharmacists of Arkansas will rally together for the good of our profession, for the good of our patients, and for the good of one another. We will have the hard conversations. We will be creative in our solutions. We will exhibit a new level of stick-to-itiveness that will not rest until we succeed in positively impacting the world around us. We will show up for our patients. We will show up for one another. We will not quit fighting and advocating for what is right.

Some have said that the year 2020 should be forgotten, that it’s a lost year. I think though, that we need to recognize the adversity we have experienced. Use this season as an opportunity to become stronger. Seek to understand others more. Use these tough times to remember what’s important to us. Examine ourselves to ensure the lives we’re leading match our values. Then we can look at 2020, and know that we’re better for it. §