by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Aug 4, 2016 | Drug Safety
Independent and unbiased health information
Consumer advocate Diane Archer is the founder of JustCare (www.justcareusa.org), a new online resource that makes health advice fun and easy to understand for boomers, older adults and care providers. We’re excited to announce that Diane interviewed our Vice President for Pharmacy Verifications and Information, Kelly Ann Barnes, JD, Rph, about online pharmacy safety and savings. The interview clearly shows why online pharmacies can save you money –– and how PharmacyChecker.com’s verification efforts give consumers information they need to find the safest international online pharmacies.
In Justcareusa.org’s most recent newsletter, Diane writes: “Can online pharmacies offer safe drugs at huge savings? You bet!” As Chair of the Consumer Reports Board of Directors and founder of the Medicare Rights Center, Diane is a nationally recognized consumer advocate and we’re honored and pleased to have her support for the work we do. It speaks volumes about the integrity that she brings to Justcareusa.org in making it a truly objective and independent source of health information for older Americans and the people who care for them.
Tagged with: Consumer Reports, diane archer, justcare, Kelly Ann Barnes
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Apr 15, 2016 | Advocacy, Online Pharmacy Verification Services, Public Health
Kelly Ann Barnes, JD, RPh, Vice President of Pharmacy Verification and Information, PharmacyChecker.com
Last week PharmacyChecker.com announced that we hired Kelly Ann Barnes, JD, RPh, as Vice President for Pharmacy Verification and Information. A licensed U.S. pharmacist for 23 years, before coming to PharmacyChecker.com Kelly was the Director of Pharmacy Quality Assurance for the Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy. She joined us to run the PharmacyChecker Verification Program to verify, monitor and enforce, and further develop online pharmacy standards; check pharmacy licenses; inspect pharmacies in various countries that fill orders internationally; and discipline online pharmacies that are not meeting our standards. Kelly will also be helping answer questions from consumers about pharmacy safety, medication use, and of course prescription drug savings, including more focus on saving money at local pharmacies.
I’m really psyched to be working with Kelly and for those in the medical and public health communities that follow PharmacyChecker.com to get to know her over the coming years. Patient safety is foremost on our minds at PharmacyCheceker.com and our commitment to consumers is fortified by hiring an American pharmacist with a proven track record of dedication to pharmacy quality and patient safety.
Just yesterday, I read in CBS News that drug prices are set to skyrocket by 50% over the next few years – and that patients are often directly hit with higher out of pocket costs. Our pharmaceutical drug bill according to IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics was $424 billion last year and is going up to $640 billion by 2020.
The CBS article begins as follows: “Americans are getting sick and tired of the rising cost of their prescription medications. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear likely that consumers will get a break any time soon.” The U.S. is already paying about twice as much on medications compared with other rich and industrialized nations – and it looks like it’s just getting worse. The safest international online pharmacies give consumers the ability to access lower cost medication so they don’t have to skip taking medications, choose between food and medicine, or go broke. With Kelly on board, we’re enhancing our critical efforts to give Americans the best information available about online pharmacy safety and savings and therefore the opportunity to afford medications they need to stay healthy, get better and survive.
Tagged with: Kelly Ann Barnes, patient safety, pharmacy safety
