David Cay Johnston: “I rise today to speak to the merits of a program that has done great work in the field of medicine. The Agency for Toxic…”

“I rise today to speak to the merits of a program that has done great work in the field of medicine. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, or ATSDR, funded through the Environmental Protection Agency, has addressed the concerns of a lot of Americans, and has garnered the support of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, particularly the Louisiana Office of Public Health. The program has also received accolades from a network of universities that host programs aimed at expanding and enhancing numbers and qualities of specialists entering the health professions field. In Louisiana, the program has been essential to Xavier University, whose college of pharmacy is in the fourth year of a 5-year cooperative agreement with ATSDR and the Minority Health Professions Foundation. ATSDR helps the college provide training for pharmacists who are challenged with meeting the expanding needs of our society. Xavier is 1 of 11 universities nationwide that have ongoing programs of this nature.”