Loretta Brickman, of Warren County, and Harold Bobrow are adjunct professors at the Temple University School of Pharmacy.
Two New Jersey pharmacists played leading roles in a new Pennsylvania law that expands access to flu vaccines for children and military families.
Loretta Brickman and Harold Bobrow are adjunct professors at the Temple University School of Pharmacy in Philadelphia. Brickman lives in Lopatcong Township.
The law, Act 8 of 2015, permits pharmacists or licensed pharmacy interns under the direct supervision of pharmacists to administer flu vaccines to children ages 9 and older, with parental permission.
Previously, pharmacists couldn't immunize anyone under 18.
The law was sponsored by Pennsylvania Rep. Seth Grove, a York-area Republican, but it was shepherded and advocated for by Brickman, Bobrow and students in their classes over more than two years.
They teach a two-credit course, Practical Politics and Pharmacy, that they designed to dispense the practical experience they gained over decades as neighborhood pharmacists.
"We advocate for issues that benefit the patient," said Brickman, who has lived in Warren County for more than 40 years and previously ran a drugstore with her husband, Stephen Brickman, in Whitehouse Station.
"We want to show our students that any one pharmacist can make a difference. It's better if you have a consensus, and the class teaches students how to do that, but even if you don't we can show that one person can make a difference."
Besides advising Grove, the class' work involved writing letters, lobbying lawmakers and professional associations, and testifying at committee hearings.
The change was initially opposed by physician and pediatrician groups because of doctors' concerns that children who weren't coming in for vaccinations would suffer with fewer wellness visits, Brickman said.
Through compromise, major issues were ironed out and her students got a first-hand look into the process, she said.
Brickman, a past president of the New Jersey Pharmacists' Association. has known her colleague Bobrow since he ran a pharmacy in Maplewood, N.J., in the 1980s.
Their experiences form the foundation of the class, which carries up to 20 students per semester and -- thanks to a grant from the Community Pharmacy Foundation -- is taught at 30 schools of pharmacy nationwide.
"We want to teach them how important they are for advocating for their patients," Brickman said of students. "They are on the front lines every day when they fill prescriptions.
"They see issues that need to be addressed and can affect the patients' quality of life and health care outcomes. We show them how they can do that -- how to build coalitions, but also show them that they themselves can start it."
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They've been teaching the course at Temple for 12 years. Brickman credited Peter Doukas, dean of Temple's School of Pharmacy, with allowing her and Bobrow an outlet for their experiences gained from behind the druggist's counter.
"He took a chance on us, because we're not academicians," said Brickman, a Temple alum. "We're working pharmacists. He felt that we were better suited for this than anyone else and he gave us that opportunity. We owe a lot to him."
Gov. Tom Wolf signed the new law in June. In addition to allowing certified pharmacists to immunize younger children, it also provides a benefit to military families that they didn't have before.
TRICARE, the military's health care plan, doesn't require co-payments for immunizations administered by pharmacists, so the law means all military personnel can now access free flu shots for their kids.
Brickman said the need for pharmacists to be trained and permitted to use their training is greater than ever.
"The more professionals who can immunize, the better off the people of this country will be," she said. "We're talking about trying times with terrorism and vaccinations. You need as many pharmacists as you can possibly get qualified ahead of time to be able to do whatever is necessary.
"In the event of chemical or biological issues, our pharmacists will be ready for that. No matter what happens, there is no way your physicians and hospitals and nurses will be able to do what needs to be done by themselves."
Students are involved in identifying causes that the classes can take up, she said.
A potential next step: Working on designating pharmacists as health care providers under the Medicare Act to help patients with medication therapy management and gain recognition as such from insurance companies.
"We look for getting everyone on the same page to prove that these are the right things to do," Brickman said. "We as pharmacists want to be able to do more -- things that we're capable of but not allowed to do now under the law."
Jim Deegan may be reached at jdeegan@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @jim_deegan. Find lehighvalleylive on Facebook.
