Bryant meets with Congress on behalf of retail pharmacy

ALEXANDRIA, Va. As Congress went through its final push before the elections, Warren Bryant, chairman of the board of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, had meetings with Congress members Thursday to discuss critical issues affecting retail pharmacy.

Bryant’s visit coincided with the passage of several pharmacy bills in the House and Senate, including the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, which passed in the House and includes a provision to preserve pharmacy choice for TRICARE beneficiaries, a bill passed in the House to stop illegal online pharmacies and a bill passed in the Senate to combat methamphetamine production and abuse.

“NACDS Chairman Warren Bryant demonstrated amazing leadership and effectiveness on Capitol Hill as he met with numerous members of the Senate and House of Representatives on the pending issues that are of extreme importance to our membership,” NACDS president and chief executive officer Steven Anderson said. “In addition to discussing the financial health of the chain drug industry and the state of the economy, Warren discussed healthcare reform, Medicaid AMP, the safety of the prescription drug supply chain, TRICARE, health information technology and privacy, efforts to curtail the sale of controlled substances by illegitimate Internet pharmacy sites, organized retail crime and other issues.”

In addition to his position on NACDS’ board, Bryant is also chairman, president and chief executive officer of Longs Drug Stores.