Having once eliminated the unfit, the next highest duty of the colleges
of pharmacy is to qualify their students for the work that they may be
called upon to do. This may seem like a very trite saying to some of
you, and yet I feel warranted in its utterance. We have reached a crisis
in pharmaceutical history, and if the pharmacist is to continue a
separate and independent existence it must be on the basis of his
scientific attainments. The pharmacist has felt his hampered position
for some time, but now that the Pure Food and Drugs Act has become
effective, we are face to face with the issue. With the United States
Pharmacopœia and the National Formulary as the legal standards he will
now be held responsible for the identity and quality of the drugs which
he sells. The question then is, will he assume this responsibility, and
pronounce finally on the quality and efficiency of the drugs and
medicines which he dispenses, or will he shift this responsibility
whenever possible? If he adopts the latter course, then will he lose in
importance and standing to that extent.
By the adoption of the Pure Food and Drugs Act both the responsibility
and the obligation of the pharmacist are increased and added importance
must attach to his position. He should take as much pride in his ability
to pronounce upon the quality of an article guaranteed by the
manufacturer, or in making a preparation which he himself guarantees, as
he has heretofore taken in his ability to decide upon the compatibility,
or to question the dosage, of a prescription. He must stand between the
manufacturer and the physician as he has stood between the physician and
the public. Too much care cannot be exercised in this direction, for the
manufacturer’s guarantee may in some instances prove to be only a label.
To do work of this kind means that the pharmacist shall be a master of
the Pharmacopœia, that he shall be able to identify any substance in the
Pharmacopœia, carry out any of the tests, and make any of the
preparations in the Pharmacopœia and National Formulary, processes for
which are given. The least, then, that the colleges of pharmacy can do
is to prepare their students to employ the Pharmacopœia and the National
Formulary as working guides.