The Alarming History of Pharmacy Historical Society Program

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE TOWN OF COLONIE

Cordially Invites You to a Special Presentation by Lee Ann Obos, R.Ph. The Alarming History of Pharmacy

As a lecturer at the Albany College of Pharmacy, Lee Anna Obos opened all her lessons with a bit of pharmacy history and now she will share those stories with us. This presentation explores the more unusual medications and formulations used as treatments for a variety of ailments, from the eighteenth century to the present day. "In the 1800s, the four most commonly prescribed medicines were mercury, arsenic, laudanum and antimony. Three of them are poisons and one of them, laudanum, was opium." Obos will also include a demonstration on pill rolling and other artifacts used by apothecaries in a 19th century drug store.

Lee Anna Obos is a Registered Pharmacist and Instructor at the Albany College of Pharmacy & Throop Pharmacy Curator, Department of Pharmacy Practice. "You need to have a history of where the profession has been so then you can see how far it's come and where it's going ... They were always trying to push things forward," Obos said.