The department of pharmacy practice at Wayne State's Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is launching a Medication Assessment Program (MAP) aimed at helping people cope with the use and costs of multiple medications. The program seeks to stem the thousands of deaths and injuries caused by medication-related problems each year by informing consumers about the appropriate use of medications.

The MAP program includes a comprehensive review of prescription, nonprescription and herbal products by a program pharmacist, an educational session that includes written, researched recommendations on how to get the most from medications and stay healthy, a personalized medication and health information manual specific for the person's health needs, and follow-up care.

Faculty from Wayne State and the West Virginia University Center for Drug and Health Information will support the network of program pharmacists through an Internet-based resource database and by providing research assistance with therapeutic questions. The project is funded in part through grants from the Community Pharmacy Foundation and the Michigan Pharmacists Association.

St. Clair County and Huron-Clinton Metropark have agreed to pay for a limited number of their employees and retirees to participate in the MAP program. Employees and retirees taking at least four medications on a chronic basis, or those who were recently hospitalized and prescribed any number of medications are eligible.

General information about the Medication Assessment Program can be received by calling Prof. Nancy JW Lewis at (313) 577-5404 or on the Internet at pharmacyoutreach.cphs.wayne.edu.