Buies Creek — Campbell University School of Pharmacy alumna Dr. Catherine Gray (’00) returned to her alma mater to speak to a new generation of first year pharmacy students on April 11, 2008. Her goal was to inform students about a unique, non-traditional pharmacy career option.Dr. Gray is a Professional Review Group Leader with the Food and Drug Administration’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications (DDMAC). The organization attempts to protect the public health by assuring that information about prescription drugs, whether in promotional material or broadcast ads, is truthful, balanced and accurately communicated.”DDMAC wants to protect the public from false and misleading advertising,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean we want to shut all drug marketing down. We’ve come a long way in the last few years towards educating the public about health issues and a lot is due to direct consumer advertising.”Dr. Gray says her organization is tasked to uphold the guidelines of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act. DDMAC takes a careful look at drug labels, magazine ads and other promotional materials to ensure the company isn’t making untested claims about their drug or omitting any potential side effects. The organization can also enforce regulatory standards by issuing warning letters to companies which submit misleading or false promotional claims about their products.Dr. Robert Cisneros, an assistant professor with the School of Pharmacy, remarked how Gray’s position is an example of the changing career field for pharmacy professionals.”In the past, a career path in pharmacy usually meant either going into retail or hospital pharmacy practice. Today a pharmacy career path can lead into so many different directions, including working for the FDA,” he said. “In fact most of our speakers usually mention during a presentation that, ‘I never thought I would be doing what I am doing today when I was in school.’ We encourage our students to stretch and have experiences in a variety of pharmacy settings.”
Campbell Pharmacy alum helps FDA debunk misleading drug claims