Thomas E. Menighan, MBA, ScD, FAPhA, FFIP
Dr. Thomas E. Menighan is CEO Emeritus of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) where he served as CEO
from 2009 – 2020 and as Senior Director of External Affairs (1987-1992). As Sr. Director, he led external
& state affairs, public relations, new business development, and practice management. Elected roles
included six years as Trustee including President in 2001-2002. His professional leadership mantra is “We
promote consumer access and coverage for pharmacists’ quality patient care services.”
He is currently Assistant Dean for Community Engagement for the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy,
and a co-founder in PursueCare (www.pursuecare.com)
and PursueCareRx (www.pursuecarerx.com)
-- companies that support patients in recovery. He serves as volunteer chair of the West Virginia Drug
Intervention Institute (www.WVDII.Org), a national
nonprofit educating children on safe medication use, and reducing accidental overdose deaths by placing
naloxone proximate to these events via the ONEbox, essentially an AED with video instructions for naloxone
administration by good Samaritans.
Menighan served former board roles with the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), the International
Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), Pharmacy Quality Solutions (PQS) and parent Pharmacy Quality Alliance
(PQA).
He serves the Dean’s Council at WVU, the University of Maryland and Florida.
Menighan has founded, partnered, or served in senior management in multiple self-funded and venture or
private equity funded companies and consulting practices including community, home infusion, specialty
pharmacy and telehealth, Drug Utilization Review, Internet technology, supply chain integrity, and
pharmaceutical distribution auditing. These companies include CEO of SymRx, developer of
CornerDrugstore.com,
SynTegra (supply chain auditing) and VP in PharMark, developer of RationalMed, an innovative Drug
Utilization
Review system in the mid-1990s. Menighan’s interest in DUR began while a staffer at APhA where a partnership
was formed with the Iowa Pharmacists Association in the founding of QA, Inc. to promote pharmacists’ roles
in
DUR.
While CEO of APhA, a large coalition was formed to pursue provider status for pharmacists. Pharmacy Library
was created to digitize publications, and Pharmacy Profiles
(www.pharmacyprofiles.com) and ADVANCE were
launched to create the authenticated database of pharmacists’ credentials and to create career navigation
tools. The Pharmacy HIT Collaborative was formed, the Board of Pharmacy Specialties and APhA Foundation
expanded significantly and the “new” APhA building came to life as a performing asset after John Gans’
leadership.
Menighan spent five years as a store manager for Thrift Drug and was a 20-year franchisee with the Medicine
Shoppe in Huntington, WV. With two partners he founded Total Life Care in 1982 as a home infusion pharmacy,
then joining Option Care as a franchisee for 20 years. In 1985 they pivoted to Specialty and became one of
the largest Option Care practices for many of the 20-year history. Exiting as a franchisee, CompreCare
continued specialty before becoming PursueCare
(www.pursuecare.com), focused on treating patients
in recovery with both pharmacy and behavioral telehealth services. Today’s PursueCare patients have access
to
ResetO (www.reachforreset.com), an
FDA-authorized Prescription Digital Therapy for treatment of addiction.
He is a native of Sistersville, WV, earned his BS in Pharmacy from West Virginia University School of
Pharmacy and an MBA from Averett College. He has been awarded the Bowl of Hygeia by WVPA, APhA and FIP
Fellowship, and honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Charleston (2010) and West Virginia
University (2011).
Tom and his wife Bonny funded the APhA Menighan Leadership Scholarship and the WVU Pharmacy Scholarship to
help students to “Keep showing up, keep saying yes, be fearless about rejection. Live your life with an
attitude of gratitude and service, and you’ll have a great career.”
APhA annually presents the APhA-APPM Menighan Pharmacy Management Excellence Award.
Menighan maintains an active consulting practice which began in 2020 and for 5 years was Catizone, Luce
&
Menighan, LLC supporting innovative practice, operations and advancement of technology. He is an advisor to
the West Virginia Pharmacists Association (WVPA), his early professional home and enjoys mentoring and using
his well-maintained database of contacts to connect smart people, facilitate growth and build relationships
among friends, colleagues, and organizations.
Tom and Bonny live in Annapolis, Maryland. Tom’s daughter Caroline Menighan is a Nurse Practitioner treating
patients in recovery. Nephew Alex Earl just completed an AAS in Computer Information Systems.