Learn the real story of pharmacy's "greatest generation" during the war years-at home and on the battlefield! World War II was a historical watershed in American history, including the practice of pharmacy. Pharmacy in World War II is a comprehensive history of American pharmacy, both in the military and on the home front, from 1941 to 1945. The book provides a unique insight into the profession and its practitioners. Read about civilian practice activities, such as the quinine collection and the drives to reclaim tin tubes when supplies of both were controlled by the enemy. Discover how practitioners coped with the shortage of some materials and what ingenuous methods and expanded roles that they put into place to meet the needs of patients and customers. Through accounts stored in archives and told first-hand, you'll learn about the work of the Selective Service committees to preserve an adequate pool of pharmacists for civilian practice, the bond drives that would buy hospital airplanes and trains, and a great deal more. Pharmacy education was in a state of flux with accelerated classes, an increase in women, and the disappearance of young men into the military. Research in the pharmaceutical industry developed new products, such as the morphine Syrette, plasma and sulfa packages to meet battlefield conditions. Whole new classes of therapeutic agents, ranging from penicillin to Atabrine to blood products, emerged from industry. Among the experiences are those of the Japanese American pharmacists and almost 120,000 others unjustly imprisoned in the most desolate spots of America. The 70 year struggle to establish an Army Pharmacy Corps was finally successful in 1943. Pharmacists could be commissioned as officers and practice pharmacy. More important, the distribution system for men and women in the military was given the same safety oversight enjoyed by civilians. Over 12,000 pharmacists and pharmacy students served in military assignments, some as pharmacists or in the medical field. Many served in combat roles as pilots, combat soldiers, and sailors, others as medics or corpsmen. A number did not come home. Pharmacy in World War II documents the events and people who experienced a turbulent time and changed a profession.
About the Author: Dennis B. Worthen is a recognized chronicler of the history of American pharmacy. He spent over two decades with Procter & Gamble Health Care until his retirement as the director of pharmacy affairs. He has been associated with the Lloyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati and he has lectured and published widely. In 2010 his work on the history of pharmacy in World War II was recognized by the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy with its Kremers Award for outstanding writing of pharmaco-history by an American author. Dr. Worthen received his BA from the University of Michigan. He also earned two MS degrees and a PhD from Case Western Reserve University. From 1986 - 1989 he was awarded an Allied Irish Bank Visiting Professorship at the College of Pharmacy at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has held adjunct appointments in several colleges of pharmacy and currently is an adjunct professor at the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati where he teaches history of pharmacy. Dr. Worthen is well known for his series of biographical sketches on "Heroes of Pharmacy." The American Pharmaceutical Association published Heroes of Pharmacy: Professional Leadership in Times Change, a compilation of the first 30 articles in 2008; a second edition was released in 2012. Other books authored by Dr. Worthen include The Millis Study Commission on Pharmacy: A Road Map to a Profession's Future. In 2009 Drs. Worthen and Robert Elenbaas co-authored Clinical Pharmacy in the United States: Transformation of a Profession. In 1996 the American Institute of History of Pharmacy awarded its Fischelis Grant for his work on pharmacy in World War II. This was followed by a second grant in 2003 to support research into the story of the relocation of Japanese American pharmacists and student pharmacists in World War II. In 1998 Dr. Worthen received the Linwood F. Tice Friend of the American Pharmacists Association/Academy of Student Pharmacists Award and the Phi Lambda Sigma National Leadership Award. In 2006 he was elected to the International Academy of the History of Pharmacy. In 2010 APhA honored Dr. Worthen by selecting him as the Honorary President.