Members of ACCP are unified by their commitment to clinical excellence, evidence-based care, and the health of our communities. We are clinicians, educators, researchers, and public health advocates. But perhaps above all, we are stewards of science—tasked with upholding scientific integrity and ensuring that research findings serve the public good.

Today, this charge feels more urgent than ever. Across the country, we are witnessing a deeply troubling pattern: the dismantling of evidence-informed decision-making, the spread of harmful misinformation, and the erosion of trust in science. Although these issues often become entangled in partisan narratives, let us be clear—our concern is not about party. It is about principle.

Health care is not red or blue. Science is not conservative or liberal. Evidence-based decision-making is not subjective. These are values that transcend political identity and define the ethical core of our profession. When they are under threat, we must speak out—not in anger or division, but with clarity, resolve, and a shared sense of duty.

Addressing Misinformation to Maintain Lifesaving Standards

We are seeing resurgences of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, mumps, and pertussis. These outbreaks are not random; they are the result of fear-driven misinformation and decisions that devalue decades of scientific progress. The same forces that undermined public confidence in these vaccines are now threatening broader pillars of evidence-based care.

Vaccines remain one of the most rigorously studied and monitored medical interventions. Their benefit to individual and public health is indisputable. But let us also recognize that the battle against misinformation extends beyond vaccines. A growing distrust in science may be placing other proven therapies at risk as well.

Some treatments for influenza and COVID-19 have been mischaracterized or underused despite clear clinical benefit. Medications for opioid use disorder—such as buprenorphine and methadone—remain stigmatized or restricted, even amid an overdose crisis. Preventive therapies like HIV PrEP continue to face resistance, and even longstanding treatments for chronic conditions are questioned due to online pseudoscience.

As pharmacists and clinicians, we have both the knowledge and the platform to counter these trends. We should continue to advocate for lifesaving therapies—not as a political statement, but for the cornerstones of public health. Our voices are critical to restoring trust, especially in communities that feel unsure or have been misled. Education, empathy, and consistent communication remain our best tools for protecting the health of our patients and the integrity of our science.

Protecting Research and the Future It Represents

Clinical progress doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It is built in laboratories, sustained through peer review, and translated through evidence-based policy. The growing attacks on research institutions and the politicization of academic science jeopardize the ecosystem that makes medical discovery possible.

Funding cuts, ideological interference, and the vilification of scientists threaten not just researchers’ livelihoods but also the lives of those who rely on new therapies, cures, and data-informed public health strategies. We should continue to advocate for robust, protected research funding and for policies that allow science to flourish independently—without coercion, censorship, or fear.

Speaking Truth to Power: Our Responsibility

As clinicians who understand the importance of data, we have a responsibility to challenge misinformation and promote medical accuracy—whether in public forums, health care settings, classrooms, or legislative hearings. This includes calling out false claims, correcting myths, and standing firm when political narratives seek to distort what we know to be true.

To be clear: doing so is not partisan. It is professional. It is moral. Speaking up for science is not activism; it is an ethical imperative for those entrusted with people’s lives.

Charting a Nonpartisan Path Forward

Clinical pharmacists should continue to model leadership grounded in evidence and free from political entanglement. This means advocating for policies that:

• Safeguard public health infrastructure and emergency preparedness;
• Ensure equitable access to preventive services and medications;
• Maintain the autonomy of science-based agencies; and
• Protect academic freedom and scientific independence.

This also means providing resources to confront misinformation in our communities, supporting pharmacists as immunization leaders, and partnering with others to defend the evidence-based foundations of clinical practice.

Let us also remain vigilant about how quickly erosion can happen. Silence—even when politically convenient—has a cost. When we retreat from truth in the name of neutrality, we allow antiscience rhetoric to fill the void. Our strength as a profession comes not from avoiding difficult conversations but from sharing data with compassion and credibility.

A Call to Courage, Unity, and Advocacy

We are not alone in this work. Across the nation, health care professionals and scientists are standing together to defend evidence-based medicine—not because it is easy, but because it is necessary. We are part of this same lineage.

To preserve the future of patient care, scientific inquiry, and public trust, we must act—not as partisans, but as professionals. Not in protest, but in purpose. Not with fear, but with fact. And crucially, we must bring our voices beyond the clinic and the classroom to the policy table.

This means engaging in advocacy—not only as individuals, but also collectively. Whether it’s educating lawmakers, testifying at public hearings, writing op-eds, or supporting policy-focused initiatives, we each have a role to play in shaping a health care system rooted in science.

One of the most direct ways to do this is by contributing time and expertise to national and local advocacy efforts. These efforts are not about party—they are about impact. By ensuring pharmacists’ voices are heard in health policy decisions, we protect the evidence-based standards that our profession and patients depend on.

In this moment, defending science is defending health. And this, above all, is our calling. Let us meet it together—with clarity, conviction, and action.