Students travel to state capital for Albany Day

Albany Day gives students the opportunity to meet face-to-face with their respective assemblymen/ assemblywomen and senators to educate them on issues hindering their practice as future pharmacists and tangibly impact the direction in which the profession is headed. 

“The passing of laws today will affect how students practice in the future,” says Lukas Brightman, ’19, president, SPSSNY. “By driving to the capital to meet with the assemblymen and senators, the students are able to educate our legislators on how these laws will benefit pharmacy and the general public.”

Legislators SPPS students met with included Senator Christopher Jacobs, Senator Mike Ranzenhofer, Senator Patrick Gallivan, Assemblyman Ray Walter, and Paul Nickson (representing Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples Stokes).

Students focused on three bills: A2857-C (pharmacy interns as immunizers), A4611-B (pharmacy technician registration) and A8664-A (comprehensive medication management).

• Assembly Bill A2857-C would allow licensed pharmacy interns in NYS to give the same immunizations as a licensed pharmacist. Currently, interns are allowed to perform all of the tasks that a pharmacist may perform, with the exception of dispensing and immunizing. 
• Assembly Bill A4611-B would enforce that all pharmacy technicians in the state be registered into a statewide database. This would help to combat diversion of narcotics as well as keep a record of pharmacy technicians, much like the database kept for licensed pharmacists and interns.
• Assembly Bill A8664-A would allow community pharmacists to work with a physician and adjust medications without having to contact the physician. This bill is limited to medications used for chronic disease states such as diabetes, COPD, asthma, heart failure.

The more than 50 SPPS students were joined by nearly 400 of their fellow New York State pharmacy students. "The amount of students in attendance also serves as a showcase to highlight all of the future pharmacists that are fighting for these bills to be enacted," Brightman says.