The Burger Opinion: What Pharmacists Had To Say

Abstract

In May of this year, in a case involving a Virginia statute, the United States Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional public or private restrictions against prescription drug price advertising.While agreeing with the 7-1 Court majority in the case, Chief Justice Warren Burger penned his now (in)famous concurring opinion in which he compared professional pharmacy practice to the functions of a "clerk who sells law books. "Due to the unusual-if not gratuitousnature of the Chief Justice 's opinion, APhA Weekly editor David Bohardt asked for membership comment. He expected the usual smattering of letters. What he got was a flood of correspondence from all sections of the country. Some of the letters were lucid and insightful; some emotional and outraged; all expressed deep concern over what the Chief Justice said, what his opinion meant to both the profession and the public, and what individual pharmacists and pharmacy associations should do about it.What follows is a brief summary of what hundreds of pharmacists had to say about the Chief Justice 's decision-and about themselves.