CHPA Executive Newsletter

CHPA and CADCA to host nationwide town hall meetings during National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month

CHPA and the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America issued a joint press release July 17 commending U.S. Senators Joseph R. Biden, Jr., (D-Del.) and Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) for introducing S. Res. 614, a resolution designating August as National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month. This initiative calls for community involvement and participation in efforts to educate parents about the dangers of medicine abuse among teens. If the legislation passes, this designation would mark the second National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month.

"Consumers have trusted the makers of over-the-counter medications with the health of their families for many years," said CHPA President Linda Suydam. "National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month presents a timely opportunity to build community awareness and alert parents and teens that abusing medicine to get 'high' is very dangerous."

In recognition of this designation, CHPA and CADCA announced that the organizations will host town hall meetings nationwide with local anti-drug abuse advocates, substance abuse treatment experts, healthcare professionals, and policy makers. The town hall format will allow community residents to join the discussion and pose questions to the panelists.

"While surveys show that overall illicit drug use among youth is on a downward trend, unfortunately the rates of over-the-counter and prescription drug use are holding steady," said General Arthur Dean, CADCA chairman and CEO. "Designating August as National Medicine Abuse Awareness Month will help bring this issue to the radar screen."

CHPA and CADCA have scheduled town hall meetings in August in Seattle, Washington; San Antonio, Texas; and Miami, Florida. Since August 2007, the organizations have hosted a total of 13 town hall meetings nationwide. Localities interested in hosting their own town hall meetings may access materials via DoseofPrevention.org. For more information about all of CHPA's activities to help curb cough medicine abuse, visit StopMedicineAbuse.org.

CHPA contact: Elizabeth Funderburk | Back to the top

OTCsafety.org and FiveMoms.com meet mommy bloggers

CHPA was a sponsor of the sold-out BlogHer08 conference July 18-19 in San Francisco, California. The association presented information from OTCsafety.org on the safe use of OTCs and from FiveMoms.com on the abuse of OTC cough medicines at this annual gathering of influential bloggers. This year’s conference was BlogHer’s fourth and featured its largest audience to-date: 1,000 bloggers who focus on a number of issues, including parenting and health.

CHPA's Katie Bissell (left)explains to a conference attendee that the goal of OTCsafety.org is to
help families safely and effectively use OTC medicines.

Five Mom Hilda Morales attended the conference to give bloggers her first-hand perspective on the word-of-mouth CHPA campaign to raise awareness about teen cough medicine abuse. OTCsafety.org also was represented, to ensure the blogger community was aware of the web site and its resources.

Five Mom Hilda Morales (far left) explains the importance of parents
speaking openly and honestly with their children about the dangers
of abusing cough medicine during an interview at BlogHer08.

OTCsafety.org is the online home of the CHPA Educational Foundation and is devoted to providing consumers with information on the safe and effective use of OTCs. FiveMoms.com is the newly revamped web site of the Five Moms Campaign to stop teen cough medicine abuse. In the 14 months since its launch, Five Moms.com has reached over 2.5 million parents.

Pharmaceutical quality issues take center stage at FDA/industry workshop

If you have an interest in pharmaceutical quality issues, you will not want to miss this year's FDA/industry summer workshop. Scheduled for August 4 in Chicago, Illinois, the workshop will explore the latest developments concerning quality initiatives for pharmaceuticals and compliance implications, and will examine possibilities for the future.

Specific topics to be explored at the workshop include quality by design, drug quality system implementation, new process validation, knowledge management, contract manufacturing, starting material supply chain, and compliance trends and analysis. A case study also will be presented on process risk assessment.

In addition, FDA officials from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research's Office of Compliance and the Office of Regulatory Affairs will provide updates on recent agency activities. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Craig Burton also will be on hand to talk about some of the recent U.S. activities to help ensure the safety of imported products.

Register today

There is only one workshop this summer. Don't miss the chance to interact face-to-face with agency officials and industry experts. More information and registration materials are available online.

CHPA contact: Dr. Heinz Schneider | Back to the top

Explore business-building opportunities at CHPA's Market Exchange

CHPA's 2008 Market Exchange is fast approaching. Set for September 17-18 in New Jersey, this valuable networking event will give Active and Associate members the chance to learn more about each other and to explore potential business-building opportunities.

Appointment schedules for Market Exchange will be sent to all registrants and company primary contacts August 15. Table hosts also will be receiving Market Exchange guidelines in the near future. The guidelines contain important details about meeting materials and signage, shipping dates and instructions, and audio and visual ordering information.

Sponsors make it all possible

CHPA is very grateful to all of the companies that have signed on as sponsors for this year's Market Exchange. It is the generosity of others that will help make this event a true success.

CHPA contact for appointments and sponsorships: Phyllis Taylor
All other inquiries, contact: Kass Kassouf or Maria Sarabia | Back to the top

CHPA cosponsors the 2008 Joint Industry Unsaleables Management Conference

CHPA is again serving as a cosponsor of the annual Joint Industry Unsaleables Management Conference. Produced by the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), the 2008 conference will be held September 22-23 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Additional cosponsors include the Food Marketing Institute, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the National Grocers Association, and the Package Machinery Manufacturers Institute.

The purpose of the two-day conference is to bring manufacturing and retail professionals from around the country together to discuss some of the practical tools that may be used to help reduce the incidence of unsalebles. Highlights of the meeting will include an in-depth analysis of the 2008 Joint Industry Unsaleables Study, a series of informative breakout sessions, and the opportunity to schedule face-to-face meetings with retailers.

The unsaleables conference is a tremendous educational opportunity for professionals involved in all aspects of operations, logistics, sales, merchandising, marketing, and product development.

Registration discounts available to CHPA

CHPA members are encouraged to register for the unsaleables conference by August 1 to receive a $200 discount. After August 1, the fee will be $945. Group discounts also are available to companies that register three or more employees.

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Join global industry colleagues at WSMI symposia in Beijing

With a rapidly growing and changing OTC market, you will want to be sure you are represented at the World Self-Medication Industry (WSMI) Symposium on Self-Care in Healthcare Systems and an International Federation of Pharmacists-WSMI Symposium on Medicines–Traditional, Alternative, and Complementary, in Beijing, China, November 6-9. The meetings are being hosted by WSMI and partners in conjunction with a World Health Organization Congress on Traditional Medicine. All of these events will bring together themes of emerging importance to patient and consumer health, and provide a great opportunity to visit a country of ever-increasing international importance.

Attendees of the WSMI symposia may wish to visit the newly-completed National Stadium, known as the "Bird's Nest," which will serve as the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The WSMI symposium will focus on the general importance of self-care, the specific role of self-medication, and ultimately the central role of consumer and patient education and information. In addition to a stellar line-up of speakers, attendees will have plenty of opportunities to speak with potential local business partners about ideas for the China marketplace.

Information on where and how to register for the WSMI symposia is available through WSMI's web site. Additional details on the World Health Organization events surrounding the WSMI meeting are available online.

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CHPA News
CHPA travels to the Big Easy to promote medicine abuse awareness

As an exhibitor at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ 34th Annual Legislative Summit, CHPA interacted with state legislators, policy staff, and key opinion leaders who traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, July 23-25 to explore, learn about, and outline key legislative initiatives for their respective states. CHPA focused its exhibiting on cough medicine abuse awareness, an issue that piqued the interest of the majority of those passing by the exhibiting booth. While many were aware of the problem, they were unaware of the many resources CHPA has to offer for their constituencies.

Captain Donna Jones, Drug Demand Reduction Counterdrug
Task Force, Louisiana National Guard (left), joins CHPA's
Elizabeth Funderburk at CHPA's exhibit booth.

This year’s meeting boasted a group of over 6000 attendees, and the association was pleased to take advantage of this opportunity to speak with policy makers and promote industry’s efforts to raise awareness about medicine abuse.

CHPA, other associations, provide input on Proposition 65 Labor Code Mechanism Regulatory Concept

CHPA, as part of a coalition, submitted comments July 17 to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) in response to a request for information on the Proposition 65 Labor Code Mechanism Regulatory Concept. OEHHA is considering adopting a regulation that would clarify the process it uses to determine whether a chemical or substance has been identified by reference to Labor Code provisions. The proposed regulation would lead to the automatic listing of chemicals included in certain referenced Labor Code lists. There are currently no regulations on the Labor Code mechanism for listing chemicals.

In its submission, the coalition stated that while it applauds OEHHA's efforts to review and update Proposition 65's implementing regulations, it cannot support the conceptual regulation set forth in the proposal. First, the group argued that OEHHA's proposed concept is based on a fundamental misreading of the statute―the belief that a section in the statute mandates an automatic listing of chemicals without any requirement for public input or opportunity for OEHHA to consult with California's qualified experts on scientific issues before a listing decision is made.

Second, the coalition said that the proposed new listing process is unnecessary. Any chemical that could be listed under the Labor Code mechanism can be managed efficiently through the authoritative bodies mechanism, which imposes a limited burden on OEHHA.

Finally, the group opined that even if OEHHA had the authority to adopt a regulation that expressly eliminates any possibility for consultation with the state's scientific experts during the listing process, such a policy would contradict OEHHA's usually robust scientific review procedures.

Other members of the coalition include the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Personal Care Products Council, the American Beverage Association, the National Coffee Association, and the Council for Responsible Nutrition.

CHPA contacts: Alison Manhoff and Dr. Marcia Howard | Back to the top

The Nielsen Company teams up with Wolters Kluwer on new healthcare alliance

CHPA Associate members The Nielsen Company and Wolters Kluwer Health issued a joint press release July 22 announcing that the two organizations have partnered to form the Healthcare Consumer Informatics Alliance. The alliance is designed to provide manufacturers and media companies with a better understanding of consumer behaviors and attitudes toward prescription drugs, OTC medicines, and other health-related products.

The organizations also announced the launch of the alliance's HealthScape™ platform. HealthScape™ integrates Nielsen’s consumer OTC and CPG purchasing and behavioral data with Wolters Kluwer Health’s deidentified patient longitudinal and transactional data to provide new insight and metrics to healthcare marketers.

Additional information on the Healthcare Consumer Informatics Alliance and HealthScape™ is available online.

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Procter & Gamble rings the NYSE opening bell

The Procter & Gamble Company's Clayton Daley, Jr., vice chairman and chief financial officer, and Charles Bergh, P&G group president, Global Personal Care, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) July 11. Procter & Gamble visited NYSE to celebrate one of its brands being entered into the company's Billion Dollar Brand Club and the launch of new products.

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FDLI offers revised edition of popular publication

The Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) is now offering a revised edition of one of its best selling publications, A Practical Guide to Food and Drug Law Regulation 3rd Edition. This latest edition of A Practical Guide includes Food and Drug Act Amendments and other new laws passed by the U.S. Congress since 2002. It also includes new chapters on such topics as combination products and pharmacovigilance. Additional information on this publication is available online.

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