Colmers seeks feedback from UMD School of Pharmacy about H1N1 virus

BALTIMORE, Md. Concerning the current outbreak of H1N1, or swine flu, Maryland's top health official asked for feedback from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, with its network of pharmacists, on "what worked and what didn't work," the pharmacy school announced Monday.

John Colmers, Maryland secretary of health and mental hygiene, said during a recent meeting of the School of Pharmacy Board of Visitors that "we are not out of the woods yet. We have identified that this is a virus that is in our population, and we are in the phase now of lessons learned."

He said his department is gathering data on medication and counseling provided by pharmacists during the outbreak.  Colmers said the availability of antiviral drugs was of great interest during the swine flu outbreak.

Although the federal government released 25% of its stockpile of medications and supplies for a possible pandemic, Colmers said, "We don't understand the supply side." He said a policy is needed to obtain better information on what is available during an outbreak.