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Healthcare was not the determining issue during last November's presidential election, but healthcare issues were on the minds of the voters.

The American Medical Association, more than 90 national provider and health organizations, and national, state and medical specialty associations encouraged the Institute of Medicine to support constructive learning and shared experience in the development of a properly constructed healthcare error reporting system.

By the time this issue of Pharmaceutical Representative reaches its readers, the new Prescription Drug Marketing Act regulations will finally have taken effect.

Total retail prescription drug sales for 2000 are expected to reach a record $143.5 billion, according to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

The FDA has suspended clinical trials at the Garden State Cancer Center until violations at the center are addressed.

Sales of drug delivery products are expected to increase by 100% over the next five years.

Seasonal parties and gift-giving made easy.

A new initiative launched by the National Institutes of Health encourages private-sector involvement in attacking several of the world's most deadly infectious diseases.

An international conference on drug safety at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, found many drug safety problems facing patients, physicians, pharmacists, regulators and researchers.

Prescription drugs that are heavily advertised to consumers are responsible for the recent rise in pharmaceutical spending in the United States.

The increased use of medicines, not rising prices, is the cause of higher prescription drug spending.

The pharmaceutical industry is currently behind other brick-and-mortar industries in terms of e-business growth, but is moving rapidly to accelerate progress.

Men and women communicate differently.

SmithKline Beecham and Block Drug Co. Inc. announced that the companies have signed agreements for SmithKline Beecham to acquire Block Drug.

The results of the first systematic program monitoring the quality of medical care provided to Medicare beneficiaries have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

American Home Products Corp., Madison, NJ; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., New York; Eli Lilly and Co., Indianapolis; Glaxo Wellcome Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC; Hoffman-La Roche Inc., Nutley, NJ; Merck & Co. Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., East Hanover, NJ; Pfizer Inc., New York; Proctor & Gamble Co., Cincinnati; Schering-Plough Corp., Madison, NJ; SmithKline Beecham, Philadelphia; and Warner Lambert Co., Morris Plains, NJ were all named to Working Mother magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers." Companies were rated on a scale of one to five (with five being the highest) in the following categories: childcare, flexibility, leave for new parents, work/life benefits and advancement of women. The list appeared in the October issue of the magazine.

The Pharmacy Manpower Project Inc., Alexandria, VA, has released the results of the National Pharmacist Work force Survey: 2000. The survey was conducted by a team of pharmacy work force researchers at Midwest colleges of pharmacy during April and May 2000. An overall response rate of 46% was achieved for the survey.

A new survey released by The Guideline Research Group, a New York-based marketing and opinion research company, shows that a large majority of Americans (91%) is in favor of having some of the most common prescription medications made available over the counter. In addition, the results of the survey indicate that those in favor of OTC switches would be willing to pay a premium for non-prescription access to these drugs.

According to the Washington-based National Committee for Quality Assurance's fourth annual State of Managed Care Quality report – an assessment of the industry's performance and the impact improvements will have on Americans' health – health maintenance organizations made their largest gains ever in 1999 in every region of the country and across every single clinical quality measure NCQA examines. The report, which is based on an analysis of health plan performance data from Quality Compass 2000, NCQA's database of managed care information, looks at data submitted by 466 health plans that cover some 51 million people. It also examines Americans' perceptions of managed care.

Washington Gov. Gary Locke unveiled a plan to help senior citizens purchase prescription drugs at lower costs.

Work toward credibility and compassion.

Become a resource to the doctor's staff.

According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Washington, eleven former Food and Drug Administration commissioners - who have served presidents from Lyndon Johnson to Bill Clinton - have written to members of Congress that the reimportation of prescription drugs poses grave risks for American patients. Currently, there is legislation pending before a House and Senate conference committee that would allow the reimportation of pharmaceuticals from countries where they are sold at lower prices into the United States.

Presenting the right message to your audience.

Sen. John Ashcroft (R-MO) introduced new legislation that would make sure that cancer patients receive full access to drugs and cancer treatment services prescribed by physicians for the patients' recovery.

The Association of Managed Care Pharmacy, Alexandria, VA, has released the "Principles of a Sound Formulary," a set of guidelines the association hopes will be used by formulary decision-makers to "balance the healthcare quality and cost equation."

Texas Governor George W. Bush proposed state assistance programs to immediately provide prescription drugs to low-income seniors, in addition to long-term reforms to modernize Medicare. To pay for the plans, Governor Bush has set aside $48 billion in funding for state assistance programs and $110 billion in funding for Medicare modernization.

For John Lumley, who is in his 11th year as a sales rep in Johnstown, PA, for Janssen Pharmaceutica, working in a small town is challenging, but lends a valuable perspective on the personal aspects of selling. Without access to the events and programs available in metropolitan areas, he has learned to watch for unique opportunities to make contact with his physicians and take the time to get to know them as individuals.

The number of pharmaceutical company-sponsored physician meetings and events skyrocketed from 70,000 in 1993 to 280,000 in 1999, according to Newtown, PA-based Scott-Levin's Physician Meeting & Event Audit. Between 1998 and 1999, the number of events held for doctors jumped 25%.

I have been in pharmaceutical sales for less than a year, and the following are the things that I've learned.