ALEXANDRIA, Va. An executive from Perdue Farms received the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ “Pharmacy Great Communicator” designation, NACDS announced Thursday.

Roger Merrill, a medical doctor and Perdue’s chief medical officer, received the designation on account of comments he made during a lecture last month at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, quoted in trade publications.

“Pharmacists could be hugely helpful in our patient-care continuum,” Merrill said in one of his comments. “Pharmacists know more than I do about drugs and drug treatment.”

The NACDS gives the award to people who “raise the public’s awareness of pharmacy’s ability to help patients improve their health-and-wellness, while reducing long-term healthcare costs, through strategies such as boosting medication adherence.”