Letters to State Boards and members of Congress

[knok]

Hi everyone,

Finally, we have the most important pieces of information to communicate to the organizations that will authorize, control pharmacists, and issue your licenses. We hope that they will take action. The postal mails will be used to send these letters.


1. State Boards of Pharmacy

• 1.1 Letter to State Boards contains cover letter, executive summaries and glossary. See attached file number 1.
  
• 1.2 TOEFL iBT Complaint with the same heading (Consumer Affairs) that we sent to NABP.
  
• 1.3 Petition to FPGEC

It is necessary to inform about what we experienced in TOEFL iBT to our State Boards since State Boards are promulgating and reviewing state rules and regulations.

Please type your name and address and type the name and address of a representative of your state board. Please do not forget to sign your letters.

The name and address of the state board can be found at www.nabp.net , then click the last button on the left, "Boards of Pharmacy". You will see the name of executive director or the officer that you can send the letter.

For example, Alabama State Board of Pharmacy,
Herbert "Herb" Bobo is the person you should contact.

Please send by postal mail. The first attached file is directed to State Boards. The name of the file is "1-Letter to State Boards".

2. Letter to Congress.

This letter will be sent to Attorney General of your state, Governors and members of congress. We need to inform these members because they are authorized to change legislature.

Congress is consisting of Senators and House of Representatives. There are 2 Senators in each state but the number of House of Representatives is varied state by state.

Click: How to write to Congress

2.1 Link to Senators in each state:

Addresses and names:

• http://www.senate.gov/general/contac...nators_cfm.cfm
  
  How to write to Your Senator:
  
  The Honorable (full name)
  (Room #) (Name) Senate Office Building
  United States Senate
  Washington, DC 20510
  
  Dear Senator:
  
  
• I would start with the title Senator...Last Name..

2.2 Link to House of Representatives

• http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/index.html

How to to write to Your Representative:

The Honorable (full name)
(Room #) (Name) House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative:

2.3 Link to Directory

• http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/w...labels_110.doc Click MS Word on the right. You will see the mailing lable to each member.
  
• This envelope also includes Letter to Congress. You have to change the heading to the person you are sending. Start with the title "The Honorable.. name.." as on the link 2.3.
  

2.4 Likewise, we will send the copy of TOEFL iBT Complaint to Consumer Affairs and Petition to FPGEC together in every envelope. We send them because we need to inform them about details, problems and possible solutions.

If possible, I will recommend you send page 9-10 of Test and Score data that shows the percentile and mean score of test takers by native countries and native languages with these letters.

http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pd...M-0506-iBT.pdf

We all together can make our voice loud and heard. Thank you very much.

3. Before you order "print", please make sure that the executive summary is on the top of the page, not at the end of the previous page.

Best Wishes,

Knok

[knok]

Why do we need to send the letters to Congress and State Boards of Pharmacy?

It is also crucial to point out the problems to state legislature. Please click the link below and read until the end. You will understand the situation.

Demand is higher than supply for pharmacists.

http://www.flsenate.gov/data/Publica...2006-223he.pdf

Its topic is Pharmacy Licensure by endorsement requirements in FL. Senators know all about a serious shortage of pharmacists. I will let you decide what you are going to do with the situation. If you do not like these letters, please write your own letter. We need to inform the state board and legislators. If only one person speaks, it will not be loud enough for another person on the roof to hear the clear message, but if many people are shouting at the same time, that person can hear it.

"We cannot climb up to the top floor to help you because the stairs are broken. "

[azharkhan]

I appreciate from the bottom of my heart for knock and other members who are involved in this effort to bring about justice. I belive at last justice will prevail. We are with yuou in this effort.
I already forwarde the letters to NABP, FPGEC, AND CONSUMER AFFAIRS.
Remaining letters i will forward by tuesday.

Thanks

[knok]

Thank you for your message. Please be sure to sign the letters and send by mail. NABP and government organization will look at your correspondence only when you sign the written correspondence. Thanks again.

[azharkhan]

Hi folks,

Guess what? Today I got the reply from the office of consumer affairs, Division chief Donna Giovannetti, saying that investigation will begin immediately.And she wil contact me as son as she have substatial information to report. It seems our efforts are working thats great.

[knok]

Originally Posted by azharkhan

Hi folks,

Guess what? Today i got the reply from the office of consumer affairs, Division chief Donna Giovannetti, saying that investigation will begin immediately.And she wil contact me as son as she have substatial information to report. It seems our efforts are working thats great.

Good news!

Thank you for sharing information.

Here is the link to "Shortage of Pharmacists." If you are doing nothing to the system, you should blame yourself for the cancer that spreads.

You must read:

Click Is a pharmacy profession or a trade?

Click Pharmacist shortage to blame for Pharmacy closings.

[knok]

I suggested you copy the replied letter of Consumer Affairs and enclosed with the letters in this thread. This will let State Boards and Congress know what is going on.

Also, I added the last paragraph about "Thank you for taking the time to read our letter" to the letter of Congress. I am sorry that this part is missing at the beginning.

Thanks.

Knok

[knok]

Here is another pharmacist Shortage - Wisconsin:

http://www.wpt.org/hereandnow/index.cfm?did=25184

Wisconsin public television

State Sees Increased Pharmacist Shortage

December 01, 2006

We will meet with Judy Warmuth, vice president of Wisconsin Hospital Association. Warmuth will discuss the recent Wisconsin Hospital Association survey, which reviews the five "hardest to fill" positions for Wisconsin hospitals. The results show an increased shortage of in-hospital pharmacists, with hospitals claiming the pharmacist position is the most challenging position for them to fill. Warmuth will discuss reasons for this increased pharmacist shortage and the necessary steps to come up with a solution.
Web Resources
WHA Homepage

[knok]

It is pretty long though but check the last paragraph:

http://www.nacds.org/wmspage.cfm?parm1=1111

It is from the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

Quote:

Establish a new temporary visa program allowing pharmacists from foreign countries to practice pharmacy in the United States until the shortage is alleviated. We appreciate your consideration of these comments as the study moves forward. Please contact John M. Coster, Ph.D., R.Ph., Vice President, Federal and State Programs, or Laura Miller, NACDS Senior Economist, (703-549-3001) if you need any additional information about this issue or have any questions about the data that we have provided. Thank you.

Sincerely,

S. Lawrence Kocot Senior Vice President and General Counsel

I think that I will send our letters to this organization today.

We need to communicate this information as much as possible. Many people are suffering because of the broken system.

[knok]

From: Texas State Board of Pharmacy, June 23, 2006

http://www.tsbp.state.tx.us/files_pd.../6-issue_3.pdf

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