Commonwealth of Massachusetts REPORT. To His Excellency CURTIS GUILD, Jr., Governor. SIR: In compliance with the laws of the Commonwealth, we have the honor to submit the following report. During the past year the condition of pharmacy throughout the State has been fully up to the standard of previous years. The average number of drug stores doing business in this State is about 1 to every 2,000 inhabitants. The work of this Board in the conduct of its examinations compares favorably with that of other State boards, and the number of students who are passed, upon examination, is in about the same ratio, or about 33% per cent. of those applying for examination. The standard of requirement of this Board will also compare favorably with other State boards of pharmacy. However, we believe it necessary that some important changes and additions should be made in our pharmacy laws which will correspond with similar laws tried in other States and found successful. We would therefore recommend the following changes and additions. First. That the Board of Registration in Pharmacy may have the right and power to grant certificates to assistant or junior clerks who have served a certain number of years' apprenticeship in retail drug stores, these certificates to be given after examination, and to be properly designated to distinguish them from certificates of registration now granted by said Board which qualify the holder to do business as a pharmacist. This recommendation is made for the reason that there is at the present time a scarcity of registered drug clerks. At least 70 per cent. of the drug stores in this State have no registered pharmacist connected with them other than the registered owner, registered partner or registered managing stockholder. Each store in the State is required by the statute to be under the personal supervision of a registered pharmacist. This being the condition, it is a physical impossibility that such stores can be covered at all times by a registered pharmacist, as the law presumes they should be. The excuse offered by proprietors is the difficulty in procuring reliable registered clerks. There is a large number of reliable drug clerks who would doubtless pass an examination that would fit them as assistants, and in whose charge a drug store might temporarily be left, to the safety of the public. The assistant having such a certificate would doubtless qualify. himself with time and experience to receive a complete certificate of registration. Second. We recommend that apprentices who intend to become pharmacists may register with the Board of Registration in Pharmacy, the date of such registration being proof of the time when experience began. - Third. Chapter 120, Acts of 1906, provides that a pharmacist registered in another State may obtain a certificate of registration in this State under certain conditions without examination, upon the payment of a fee of $5. We recommend that the law be so amended that the fee shall be $10 for such registration, this being the amount already charged by other States to holders of Massachusetts certificates who apply for reciprocal registration. Fourth. That an addition be made to chapter 120, Acts of 1906, so as to read: "No certificate shall be granted, known as the reciprocity certificate, until the person so applying shall have signified his intention of operating the same in this state, and shall have been employed in the state from which he applies for the period of not less than one year immediately following his examination, either as clerk or proprietor in a retail drug store where physicians' prescriptions are dispensed." Fifth. -We recommend that the clause in section 23, chapter 76 of the Revised Laws, recognizing an unregistered partner as being actively engaged in the business of pharmacy, should be repealed, provided that it can be done without injury to vested interests. Sixth. We would recommend that legislation extending the power of the Board of Registration in Pharmacy to suspend the certificate of registration of a pharmacist who, by confirmed habits of intoxication or the wrong use of drugs, has made himself dangerous to the public and unfitted to deal in drugs and poisons; this power to be exercised only after a hearing, and upon the most conclusive evidence. Seventh. The Board have issued circulars during the past year requesting that the names of registered proprietors, registered partners and registered managing stockholders appear in connection with their signs and upon labels used for medicinal preparations compounded in their stores. This request has generally been complied with, but, to avoid any misunderstanding, we would recommend such legislation as may be necessary to thus protect the public in identifying the registered proprietor, registered partner or registered manager. Eighth. Section 17, chapter 76 of the Revised Laws, provides that the Board of Registration in Pharmacy may for cause suspend the certificate of registration of a registered pharmacist. We would recommend that the Board should have this suspended certificate in its custody during the time of suspension. Ninth. We would also recommend that each drug store shall be required to register with the Board of Registration in Pharmacy and be licensed annually to carry on the business of pharmacy, upon payment of a fee of $2 for such license to the State Treasurer, individual re-registration not to be required. (Mr. Wm. F. Sawyer wishes to be recorded as dissenting to the ninth recommendation.) Respectfully submitted, FRED A. HUBBARD. WM. F. SAWYER. L. A. LAMSON. ERNST O. ENGSTROM. CHARLES F. RIPLEY. BOSTON, MASS., Oct. 1, 1907. Whereas, The retiring member of this Board, William F. Sawyer of Boston, has for the past five years served the State with credit to himself and benefit to the cause of pharmacy, we, the remaining members of the Board, desire to express our appreciation of the valuable services rendered by Mr. Sawyer. His sterling character and conscientious endeavor to do his duty will forever leave an impression on this Board in future deliberations. Therefore be it Resolved, That these resolutions be spread upon the records of this Board, also that a copy of this resolution be sent to Mr. Sawyer. FRED A. HUBBARD. ERNST O. ENGSTROM. REPORT OF COMMITTEE TO NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BOARDS OF PHAR MACY. MR. PRESIDENT: The following is the report of your committee to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Saturday, August 31, at 10 o'clock A.M., the convention of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy opened at the Astor Hotel, New York City. Thirty-one States were reported as members, Mr. F. A. Hubbard and Ernst O. Engstrom representing Massachusetts as delegates. The committee charged with the duty of preparing and submitting suitable sample questions to be used by the State boards of pharmacy when conducting their examinations presented a report. Professor Remmington of Philadelphia, Pa., and Professor J. H. Beal of Scio, O., and others offered suggestions on the same subjects. A committee of three was appointed to condense and report these suggestions, and Mr. Engstrom was made chairman of this committee. The afternoon session opened with discussion of methods for examinations. Towards the close of this session a nominating committee, appointed from the floor, brought in the names of candidates for the election of officers, and Mr. F. A. Hubbard of Massachusetts was unanimously elected president of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Monday morning, September 2, Mr. Engstrom, as chairman on examination questions, reported, and spoke for the adoption of certain methods. A general discussion followed. Dr. H. W. Wiley, a "Pure Food and Drug Commissioner " of Washington, D. C., was invited to speak. In his remarks he especially mentioned the spirit displayed by the Massachusetts delegates and others who had spoken with the earnest |