In the News

With sights set on helping advance efforts to address the opioid epidemic, cooperative bank CoBank recently announced it will donate $500,000 to the Center for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, which is housed in the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Read More

“Volunteering for the AHEC health screening booth at the National Western Stock Show has become one of my favorite volunteer opportunities thus far. I first volunteered last year as a first-year pharmacy student. As a first-year student, I jumped at the chance to have more direct patient care experiences and was excited to do so in such a fun environment like the stock show. This opportunity was more rewarding than I had hoped, and I volunteered again to participate in this year’s stock show. This year I not only was able to complete health screenings, but I also helped coordinate and administer donated flu vaccines.

Bringing resources directly to patients, such as free health screenings and free flu shots, helped reach a patient population that is often left underserved. I could not count the number of patients I spoke with that do not have a relationship with a primary care physician in their community or don’t see a doctor on a regular basis. Providing resources in a relaxed environment in which they are comfortable, helps us build rapport and create that first link with the healthcare system. Read More

The Colorado Legislature is back in session, and once again faculty from the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences are working closely with lawmakers to provide their expertise on the opioid crisis.

The Skaggs School of Pharmacy is the home of the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention, which coordinates Colorado’s statewide response to the opioid epidemic. School of Pharmacy professor Robert Valuck, PhD, RPh, is the Consortium’s executive director, and he has helped lawmakers understand the crisis and provided them with reliable information for the past several years.

The Legislature convened in early January, and its agenda included bills that would expand medication-assisted treatment and create new law enforcement programs. “The bills the legislature passed last year and the ones it will consider this session will make an impact to Coloradans dealing with substance use disorder and help the public understand the risks of opioids,” Valuck said. Read More

Sheldon “Shelly” E. Steinhauser knows the value of pharmacy – it was instilled in him during his childhood. His father, an immigrant, was a Navy doctor and, later, a neighborhood physician who worked closely with a trusted community pharmacist.

“My father wouldn’t make a key decision about prescribing drugs for his patients without consulting the pharmacist,” said Shelly. “Today, people are just as likely to turn to pharmacists whenever they have questions about prescription drugs and other health aids. They’re critical to our health care system.” Read More

Coloradans are concerned about prescription drug abuse and support increased state funding for initiatives to address the epidemic, according to a survey commissioned by the Colorado Consortium for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention to measure the public’s awareness of the opioid crisis.

More than half of the survey’s 1,400 respondents (57 percent) thought there was a problem with people in their community misusing prescription medication such as opioids, and 57 percent said they had heard or seen a message about prescription drug abuse being a problem in Colorado. Many of those surveyed had a personal connection to the crisis, as 37 percent said they knew someone who was or had been addicted to prescription medication. Read More

The ALSAM Foundation recently invested an additional $2 million to continue the Therapeutic Innovation Grants Program at the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The funding supports a second phase of grants for projects focused on drug discovery and development. Read More