Pharmacy in Latvia during the occupation regime of Nazi Germany (1941-1945).

The study covers the period of World War II after shift of occupational powers in Latvia when Soviet occupation was replaced by the occupation regime of Nazi Germany in the summer of 1941 and retained until first half of 1945. Due to this shift gradually Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Belarus were merged into a single administrative area and designated as "Ostland". Soviet officials left the pharmaceutical industry, which they had tried to apply to the communist ideology from June 1940 to June 1941 creating confusion and chaos. The renewed Pharmacy Board of Latvia had to deal with the restoration of supervision and a partial return from the communist to the capitalist regime. The research provides an insight to adaptation and development of the pharmaceutical industry in Latvia during Nazi Germany occupation regime, highlighting as essential indicators the administrative operation of Pharmacy Board of Latvia and its cooperation with German authorities, the availability of medicines, process of reprivatisation of pharmacies and changes in the number of pharmaceutical employees. The research issue raised is topical, since it is this period that reflects the industry's ability to adapt and perform work in fundamentally different and severe circumstances, which include both resource deficits and the transition from one regime to another. The collected evidence shows the efforts to stabilize the pharmaceutical industry in many terms. One example was the attemptions to ensure the rational dispensing of medical products to the pharmacies and hospitals, with the greatest degree of austerity, because the supply and consumption of medication was extremely complex issue throughout the war.

[Regulation of drug prices in nineteenth-century Bazilian pharmacy]. / O Regimento dos preços dos medicamentos... na farmácia brasileira oitocentista.

On November 5th, 1808, D. João de Bragança issued a license about the practice of druggists and the price of drugs and ordered the creation of a regulation to tax the cost of medicines marketed in Brazil. First published on 1809, the Regimento dos preços dos medicamentos... gained new editions in the following years and became an indispensable working tool for those involved in the making and trading of drugs at this time. This paper situates historically and sheds light on a document briefly explored by the researchers of the history of the Brazilian pharmacy, taking into account that it was one of the first initiatives of the Luso-Brazilian government in line with the pharmaceutical activity in Brazil in the nineteenth century.

Em 5 de novembro de 1808, dom João de Bragança promulgou um alvará sobre o exercício dos boticários e o preço das drogas e ordenou a criação de um regulamento para taxar o custo dos medicamentos comercializados no Brasil. Publicado pela primeira vez em 1809, o Regimento dos preços dos medicamentos... ganhou novas edições nos anos subsequentes e tornou-se um indispensável instrumento de trabalho para os envolvidos com a feitura e o comércio dos remédios. Este texto situa historicamente e destaca esse documento brevemente explorado pelos pesquisadores da história da farmácia brasileira, visto ter sido uma das primeiras iniciativas do governo luso-brasileiro condizentes com a atividade farmacêutica no Brasil no século XIX.

Milestones in managed care pharmacy.

Managed care pharmacy has a relatively short history, but one that is defined by significant achievements. Since the late 1960s, managed care pharmacists have applied their unique skills to formulary management, clinical programs, benefit design, and contract negotiations to support patient access to life-saving therapies, while also ensuring cost-effective use of limited health care resources. Key milestones include establishing the pharmacy benefit as an essential component of the U.S. health care system, launching the Medicare Part D program, and expanding medication therapy management services. The year 2020 brings another milestone-the 25th anniversary of AMCP's flagship publication, the Journal of Managed Care + Specialty Pharmacy. This year also serves as an inflection point. As managed care pharmacy professionals prepare for change and the challenges ahead-including the imperative to address the rising costs of health care and health disparities-the use of evidence, utilization management strategies, and innovation will support our continued success. DISCLOSURES: No funding supported the writing of this commentary. The authors have nothing to disclose.

O Regimento dos preços dos medicamentos... na farmácia brasileira oitocentista / Regulation of drug prices in nineteenth-century Bazilian pharmacy

Resumo Em 5 de novembro de 1808, dom João de Bragança promulgou um alvará sobre o exercício dos boticários e o preço das drogas e ordenou a criação de um regulamento para taxar o custo dos medicamentos comercializados no Brasil. Publicado pela primeira vez em 1809, o Regimento dos preços dos medicamentos... ganhou novas edições nos anos subsequentes e tornou-se um indispensável instrumento de trabalho para os envolvidos com a feitura e o comércio dos remédios. Este texto situa historicamente e destaca esse documento brevemente explorado pelos pesquisadores da história da farmácia brasileira, visto ter sido uma das primeiras iniciativas do governo luso-brasileiro condizentes com a atividade farmacêutica no Brasil no século XIX.

Abstract On November 5th, 1808, D. João de Bragança issued a license about the practice of druggists and the price of drugs and ordered the creation of a regulation to tax the cost of medicines marketed in Brazil. First published on 1809, the Regimento dos preços dos medicamentos... gained new editions in the following years and became an indispensable working tool for those involved in the making and trading of drugs at this time. This paper situates historically and sheds light on a document briefly explored by the researchers of the history of the Brazilian pharmacy, taking into account that it was one of the first initiatives of the Luso-Brazilian government in line with the pharmaceutical activity in Brazil in the nineteenth century.

Reflections on the Formulary System from 1997 to the Present.

DISCLOSURES: No funding was received for the writing of this reflection. Avey is a member of the AMCP Foundation and has recently retired from MedImpact Health Systems, where he served as Vice President of Specialty Clinical Solutions.

Pharmacy in Latvia during the first Soviet occupation (1940-1941).

The first period of the independent state of Latvia lasted from 1918 to 1940. During this period, pharmacy in Latvia had reached a high level of development. The study covers the period after the loss of independence, when the beginning of World War II marked a major crisis in the development of pharmacy in Latvia. The aim of the study was to compile and systematize information available in published and unpublished sources on the impact of the Soviet occupation (1940-1941) on pharmacy in Latvia, which has not been studied before. The main idea of the study was to find evidence that the Soviet occupation decreased the development capacity of Latvian pharmaceutical industry and narrowed its development opportunities. At the same time, the study reflects part of the general political, ideological and economic environment in Latvia over that period. The study is retrospective and descriptive. Materials from Latvian State Historical Archives and the National Archives of Latvia, and publications from the 20th century press of Latvia were used in the study. In one year, the Soviet system attempted to aggressively transform Latvian pharmaceutical industry to match the USSR standards. This meant the destruction of the capitalist system and the free market, as well as the introduction of centralised management. The radical changes were poorly organised and unsuitable candidates were appointed to positions of responsibility. There is evidence that pharmacy in Latvia experienced complete chaos during that period: private enterprises were nationalised, the number of pharmacy professionals decreased, and medical products from abroad were not supplied to the Latvian market. The Latvian population was rescued from total lack of medications by the last major medication purchase from Germany and the Netherlands shortly before the occupation. All the USSR actions in the pharmaceutical industry were coercive. With the occupation of Nazi Germany in the summer of 1941, the Soviet functionaries left the industry. However, in 1945, during the second occupation, the previous procedures were renewed and their results strengthened. It leads to the conclusion that the Soviet political system had an adverse effect on the development of pharmacy in Latvia.

A pílula da oportunidade: discursos sobre as pílulas anticoncepcionais em A Gazeta da Farmácia, 1960-1981 / The opportunity pill: discourses about the birth control pill in A Gazeta da Farmácia, 1960-1981

Resumo O artigo analisa matérias sobre pílulas anticoncepcionais publicadas em A Gazeta da Farmácia, entre 1960 e 1980, examinando aspectos pouco conhecidos da biografia desses medicamentos e da constituição do seu mercado. Para os profissionais de farmácia, os anticoncepcionais orais se apresentaram como "as pílulas da oportunidade", seja no sentido dos lucros, seja no sentido de resgatar seu prestígio no campo científico, clínico-terapêutico e político. As trajetórias das pílulas anticoncepcionais e do mundo da farmácia se interseccionaram, quando ambos buscavam tecer sua biografia, apadrinhados pela indústria. Farmacêuticos e pílulas se coconstituíram, um sendo importante ponto de passagem para outro.

Abstract The pharmacy world was a mandatory crossing point and active player in the establishment of hormonal contraception in Brazil. Through an analysis of articles published in A Gazeta da Farmácia from 1960 to 1981, the study explores little-known aspects of the birth control pill's biography and the construction of its Brazilian market. For pharmacy professionals, oral contraceptives were "opportunity pills" in two senses: they provided profits and they restored the prestige of these professionals within the scientific, clinical-therapeutic, and political realms. The pathways of the pill and the pharmacy world intersected as both wove their biographies under the patronage of industry. Pharmacists and the pill were co-constructed, and each was an important crossing point for the other.

Activities of Latvian pharmacists in the Latvian Red Cross organization in exile in Germany (1945-1976).

The Latvian Red Cross has performed its assistance mission outside the territory of Latvia for several decades. In the 40-s of the 20th century, the state of Latvia and its people went through one of the most tragic pages of their history. Due to the re-occupation made by the Soviet Union in 1944, many people of Latvia fled to exile and under exile conditions the Latvian societies, parishes and public organizations came into being, including the Latvian Red Cross. It started its activities in the second part of the 40-s of the 20th century in Germany and then representative offices emerged in the U.S.A., Sweden, France, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand. Special attention should be paid to the fact that the activity under exile conditions was of a large scale, well-organized and long-lasting. Substantial work at that time has been done by a number of pharmacists. Among them, the pharmacist and doctor Hugo Skudins (1903-1976) should be emphasized, who organized the purveyance of medication and sending them to Latvians in the occupied Latvia and to the penal camps in Siberia.

[The history of Pharmacy in Portugal (1900-1950) : pharmaceutical industry and community pharmacy ].

The aim of this article is to present the history of pharmacy in Portugal during the first half of the twentieth century, considering two contemporary issues : the industrialization of medicines in Portugal, with regard to law and regulation of medicines and professional activity (emphasizing community pharmacy) and other relevant issues concerning pharmacy and public health.

India's Medico-Pharmaceutical Inheritance from the Colonial Period.

The development of pharmacy in India did not make sufficient headway during the British colonial period. The status of the pharmaceutical inheritance from the colonial era may be summarized as follows: There were around one hundred qualified pharmacists. The Health Survey and Development Committee (1943-45) put the number at 75. The number of compounders was nearly 27,000. They were inadequately qualified and were not counted as pharmacists. A large number of them worked in governmental hospitals. But for some missionary hospitals there was hardly any institutionalized pharmacy else-where. The drug distribution was in the hands of chemists and druggists who were not professionally qualified. The provision of drugs largely remained a trade. The drug industry was in its infancy. The yearly turnover was just 100 million rupees for a country as vast as India. The Drugs Rules 1945 under the Drug Act 1940 had been formulated but their implementation was yet to be effected. Some groundwork had been done on legislation for the control of pharmacy but the bill had yet to be enacted. There were three pharmacy degree-awarding institutions. The Banaras Hindu University and the Panjab University had instituted B. Pharm. courses in 1937 and 1944, with yearly intake of 20 and 5 students, respectively. The L. M. College of Pharmacy at Ahmedabad, then with the Bombay University, had their first admissions in 1947. Two diploma-level pharmacy courses existed at the Madras Medical College and the Medical College, Vishakapatnam, in the Madras Presidency; the yearly intake was very small. The country's entire pharmaceutical legacy from the colonial rule portrays the poor state of pharmacy practice that came with independence. The higher status of pharmacy as seen today is the result of sustained efforts made over the last fifty years. The chemists and druggists of the earlier period were not a qualified group--they were more concerned with protecting their trade interests and lacked the professional component. Thus the development of the profession constituted a formidable task. Once it became evident that inadequate attention had been paid to the pharmaceutical component of the new health care system during the colonial period--within pharmaceutical circles during the early part of the twentieth century--change began to take place, with the establishment of the Drugs Enquiry Committee recognized as the most significant event of the time. The Report was submitted by the Committee in 1931, laying the foundation of the drugs and pharmacy statutes and development of the pharmacy profession in general. It was a coincidence that the year 1931 also witnessed an occurrence of potential significance; that was, the entry of Mahadeva Lal Schroff, a man with an indomitable spirit, into the pharmaceutical arena to lead and direct the making of modern pharmacy in India.

Clinical genetics and public policies: how should rare diseases be managed?

The implementation of a specific policy for rare diseases in the Brazilian Unified Health System presents challenges in terms of its rationale. Recognizing the importance of rarity in the context of public health means understanding genetics as one of the dimensions of disease and accepting that Brazil is undergoing a period of transition in health indicators. Although most rare diseases lack pharmacological treatment and genetic counseling constitutes the best strategy for their prevention, the cost of "orphan drugs" and their consequent lack of cost-effectiveness are still claimed as hurdles to the implementation of public policies in this field. Epidemiological aspects should not be used as isolated criteria for prioritization in public policies

[The historical aspects of formation of professional competence of pharmacist in XIX--early XX centuries].

The article considers the main directions of formation of professional competence of pharmacist in XIX--early XX centuries. The study revealed six directions: development of normative documents to determine requirements to different aspects of pharmaceutical activities; establishment of requirements to professional education of pharmacists; organization of public control of activities of pharmaceutical organizations and pharmaceutical personnel, development of system of penalties for established infringements of laws and regulations concerning pharmacies; introduction of conduct listings; development of opinion of pharmaceutical community concerning the necessity of top level of education of pharmaceutical personnel and its public responsibility.

Samuel W. Kidder: defining the role of consultant pharmacy.

There are very few pharmacists who were there when modern day consultant pharmacy was formed, but Samuel W. Kidder, PharmD, MPH, who died October 14, 2012, at the age of 76, was one of them. As a government regulator, he helped create the role of the consultant pharmacist by developing regulations for drug regimen review and standards for detecting medication errors. Because of Kidder's ongoing involvement in nursing facility survey and certification, he also was a key resource for ASCP. He was a strong supporter of consultant pharmacists and championed reimbursement for their services. Considered a visionary in the field, he was known as an advocate both for pharmacists and for patients.

Learning about new products: an empirical study of physicians' behavior.

We develop and estimate a model of market demand for a new pharmaceutical, whose quality is learned through prescriptions by forward-looking physicians. We use a panel of antiulcer prescriptions from Italian physicians between 1990 and 1992 and focus on a new molecule available since 1990. We solve the model by calculating physicians' optimal decision rules as functions of their beliefs about the new pharmaceutical. According to our counterfactuals, physicians' initial pessimism and uncertainty can have large, negative effects on their propensity to prescribe the new drug and on expected health outcomes. In contrast, subsidizing the new good can mitigate informational losses.

[The Medical-Pharmaceutical Department of the Junta for aid to Spanish Republicans, Mexico delegation]. / El Servicio Médico-Farmacéutico de la Junta de Auxilio a los republicanos españoles, delegación de Mexico.

Between 1940 and 1942, the Mexican delegation of the Junta for Aid to Spanish republicans founded and supported its own Medical-Pharmaceutical Department in Mexico City, formed by recently exiled Spanish professionals. It initially dealt with home medical care, charging for each medical service performed by specialists and each drug prescription. It later included a polyclinic with a staff of specialists and its own pharmacy. Finally, a small hospital and a laboratory for medical tests were planned, but circumstances prevented the project from getting under way. The study addresses the reasons for the birth of the Medical Pharmaceutical Service, its funding, organization and functioning, the professionals on whom it depended, its lines of action and its immediate projects. It also covers the main problems faced during its development and the reasons for its forced dissolution.

The political contradictions of incremental innovation: lessons from pharmaceutical patent examination in Brazil.

Neodevelopmental patent regimes aim to facilitate local actors' access to knowledge and also encourage incremental innovations. The case of pharmaceutical patent examination in Brazil illustrates political contradictions between these objectives. Brazil's patent law includes the Ministry of Health in the examination of pharmaceutical patent applications. Though widely celebrated as a health-oriented policy, the Brazilian experience has become fraught with tensions and subject to decreasing levels of both stability and enforcement. I show how one pillar of the neodevelopmental regime, the array of initiatives to encourage incremental innovations, has fostered the acquisition of innovative capabilities in the Brazilian pharmaceutical sector, and how these new capabilities have altered actors' policy preferences and thus contributed to the erosion of the coalition in support of the other pillar of the neodevelopmental regime, the health-oriented approach to examining pharmaceutical patents. The analysis of capability-derived preference formation points to an endogenous process of coalitional change.

[Dean Paul Gillot (Magneux 1887-Nancy 1935). A multiform but unfortunately interrupted career. A comparison of past and current practices]. / Le Doyen Paul Gillot (Magneux 1887-Nancy 1935), une carrière multiforme malheureusement inachevée.... Comparaison de quelques pratiques d'hier et d'aujourd'hui.

Paul Gillot came in Nancy to study pharmacy. Having obtained his diploma in 1913, one year before First World War, he was enlisted as a soldier then an officer, for five years. During these years, he was wounded and severely ill and he never recovered. In 1919, coming back at the school of pharmacy in Nancy, he began his thesis and his universitary career and became simultaneously hospital pharmacist and inspector of community pharmacies. In 1929 he had the luck of beeing nominated as the professor of materia medica, and in 1935 he was choosed as the dean of the faculty. Unfortunately he died some weeks after his election. The paper describes successively the activities of professor Paul Gillot during all his short life, and closes by some reflections about universitary practices of this period.