Increased Supplement Use Calls for Pharmacist-Led Counseling, Education | NCPA 2025

Among nationwide consumer trends in the past few years, supplement use has increased tremendously since the COVID-19 pandemic. With millions of patients seeking these often over-the-counter and accessible therapies, pharmacists are becoming an untapped resource to help patients manage their supplement use.

“Seventy-four percent of the US population do take supplements right now. That’s 74% of the people that walk into my pharmacy every day,” Emlah Tubuo, PharmD, MS, owner of Powell Pharmacy and founder of Emlah Consulting LLC, told Drug Topics. “One of the positives of COVID[-19] was an increased awareness of what every individual can do to improve their health.”

With so many patients seeking supplements to improve health outcomes, Tubuo believes there are opportunities to improve patients’ health and pharmacy profitability through increased supplement sales in community pharmacies.

In part 1 of our interview with Tubuo, she joined us at the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) 2025 Annual Convention to share additional insights from her session, “Shelf Help: Rethinking Supplements for Profit and Purpose.” She discussed the current state of supplement use in the US and the opportunities for pharmacists to make a difference for patients.

Although increased supplement use can translate to more patients keeping on top of their health, Tubuo believes pharmacists’ education and counseling on supplement use can only improve patient health on an even greater scale.

Read more of our coverage from NCPA 2025.

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