The Advocacy Committee, co-chaired by Kristin Klein, PharmD and Tara Smith, PharmD, accomplished many things in 2009 and is looking forward to a terrific 2010!

 

The flagship program of the Advocacy Committee is a website for parents called KidsMeds (www.kidsmeds.info). Coordinated by Catherine Tom, PharmD, the websites provides relevant and current information related to children's health. The wesbite continues to grow and expand content. Some new topics that you'll soon see on the site include information regarding tick borne illnesses, use of epi pens, use of insect repleents in children, and information regarding black box warning on medications for children.

 

KidsMeds also launched a twitter account (www.twitter.com/KidsMeds). This new resource for parents allows parents and practitioners to follow the happenings on KidsMeds. It also provides information from a variety of health information sources, such as the FDA, CDC. It is multidisciplinary in nature, and brings together content from pharmacists, nurses, physicians and other health care providers. Follow KidsMeds on twitter!

 

The Committee plans to promote KidsMeds to other health care and parent organizations and parent publications throughout the year.

 

The Advocacy Committee continues to provide position statements and reviews on behalf of PPAG. This past July, the Committee released a position regarding the use of antidepressants in children. The Committee is currently working on positions regarding Heparin use in pediatric patients, as well as, medications for the obese patient.

 

If you are interested in joining the Advocacy Committee, please contact Kristin Klein at kriklein@umich.edu or Tara Smith at tsmith@shhpens.org.

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