Trends and events in American pharmacy, 1852-2002.

The mid-19th century was a watershed for the governance of American pharmacy, marked by the founding of APhA in 1852 and the recognition that pharmacists had a duty to protect patients' health and welfare. Drug therapy has undergone a dramatic transformation since the pharmacological shotgun approach of the mid-1880s, propelled by progress in the biomedical sciences, including the recent genetics revolution. The rising number and cost of prescriptions is a leading public policy issue and a contributing factor to the current shortage of pharmacists.