The Variety of Migraine Treatment Options Opens the Door for Pharmacy Services | NCPA 2025

With a wealth of treatment options available for patients seeking to treat migraine symptoms, screening and diagnosis become some of the most crucial aspects of pharmacists’ management of migraine medications.

Amaal J. Starling, MD, FAAN, FAHS, and Courtney Hahs, PharmD, recently joined Drug Topics at the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) 2025 Annual Convention & Expo to discuss current migraine treatment options from the perspectives of a pharmacist and neurologist.

“Number one, from a treatment perspective, there are 2 paradigms for treatment in migraine,” Starling, associate professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, told Drug Topics. “One is treatment of the individual attack, that's acute treatment; and then there's also treatment that is preventive, which is aimed to reduce the frequency of attacks as well as manage the underlying disease process.”

At NCPA 2025, Starling and Hahs, clinical pharmacist at SEMO Rx Pharmacies and SEMO Rx Care Coordination, presented on migraine treatment options, guidelines, and emerging therapies within the space. In this video, they dove into the current options for treating migraine and how the sheer breadth of therapies creates a systematic need for patient education and pharmacist counseling.

From Starling’s expertise on migraine epidemiology to Hahs’ perspectives on medication management for such a prominent condition, see how these 2 providers are making a difference for their patients in real time.

Read more of our coverage from NCPA 2025.

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