One of last year’s batch of GSK swine flu vaccines stopped being used because of some reactions that were noticed. Fair enough, the odd part is the comment made by the spokesman for Canada’s health minister who said “We’re not seeing any thing wild or spooky or crazy about our vaccine at all.”

I’m not sure that’s the best possible wording as an official statement from a government health representative. But mildly entertaining nonetheless. Much like when you refer to drugs as “this stuff” to an elderly customer and they look at you like you just swore at them by using casual language. I get it, people are very touchy about their drugs. We have a way of getting complacent about our attitude towards drugs because to us they’re just meds, to others, it is “their” medication for “their” bodies. Which is something we need to consider when we talk to people. While with a younger person we can be more causal in our approach, but with our more senior customers, we need to take a more serious, still friendly, but respectful attitude when we refer to the medications. I have seen flippant attitudes given, sometimes accidentally when a staff member is in a hurry to get to the next customer, but it will leave your customer with a bad impression..

Well, there you go, this site is now about a year old. Yes, I’m not going to look up exactly when it went ‘live’ but knowing the month is good enough. In celebration Bayer have decorated their building as per the picture. Nah, not really…

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University was the good life. Even if you were working in a pharmacy at the time your technical knowledge didn’t really have to be up to scratch. We probably don’t like to admit it, but as a pharmacy student and intern, you mostly expected to not know things. As soon as that day clicks over and you are what it says on your degree, you suddenly need to know everything. While I say that with a sense of absurdness, no one can know everything, there is definitely that expectation particularly from the non-pharmacists you deal with. Not only are you expected to know about drugs, but pretty much anything medically related.

Copyright 20th Century Fox, and Apple...I guess?

It’s great that our inner geek enjoys learning about the strange ways in which some of the medications on our shelf have come about, but customers might not necessarily get the same kick out of it as we do.

Some of the more chattier of us when counseling might go into a little too much detail about the medication we are talking about. We might be encouraged by the patient’s curiosity and questions that we might find ourselves letting them know some unnecessary information into the production process of their cute lil pink tablet. Warfarin is one where I’ve heard someone mention to the customer that it came from rat poison, or basically is rat poison. While that’s kinda interesting for us, it isn’t very reassuring to the patient. If they already haven’t heard that about warfarin, and many people have, their next question is how does it work as a rat poison, to which you say “well the rats basically bled out etc….now please have this tablet with your lunch. Right-o then, off you go, enjoy.” (more…)

It seems customers have lost the plot when it comes to owings. I am not sure if this is the same general term used overseas, but in Australia, when we give a few tablets to get someone by if deemed urgent enough if they don’t have a script (but we have evidence of their medication history), we give them an ‘owing’ (usually between one and three days supply).

I get that this image isn't totally relevant to the post, but I like it, so there.

I’m not sure about you, but I try to keep my customer details private. Whether that is when I am counseling them on a new script or talking about a product while in the shop area. I’m not sure if one direction I’ve noticed recently is the best to preserve confidentiality…

SHHH. ZIP IT!

All too often, and I am guilty of this myself, we persist to try explain to a customer on the phone the situation so they can fully comprehend it. In our minds, we are optimistic, we think “Yes, if I explain it very clearly and slowly, they will finally understand!”, however, this doesn’t happen.

These phone calls come from regular customers, strangers who pointed at the first pharmacy number in the phone book, and new customers who have never received a drug before. The topics range from anything to trying to explain why it is not out fault Pfizer stopped producing a drugs twenty years ago, or why that segment on the current affairs show about that drug that turned the lady blue is not relevant to them, and is reversible anyway (true story). The problem is that it’s in our nature to try make people understand. This is what we are told to do, counsel, educate, be a valuable asset to the community as a beacon of drug information – a lighthouse in the storm of pills, if you will.  What actually happens in a lot of cases…the customer does not care what you are saying, they just like talking out loud and are waiting for you to say “Oh yes, you’re right, I’m wrong, want a pack of free jellybeans?!” (more…)

We’ve had a change of direction here at ‘Ask a Pharmacist’. Initially this site began as a place anyone can ask any question on pharmacy, drugs and so on. That was all this site was about, but it has evolved since then. Almost eight or so months on, we have decided to change our function.

Due to the demand for drug questions, we cannot give the adequate amount of time to answer the questions coming through from the public. Since the launch of the site around May 08, it has since turned into a blog about the industry, with particular commentary on the industry in Australia for locals and as a source of information for our overseas pharmacists who are curious how the industry here operates – and the pros and cons of the system. While Australian based, it is aimed at pharmacists worldwide. (more…)

I haven’t written much over the past few days with yesterday’s exception, so I thought I’d follow up today before NYE.  I took a swipe at the potentially abrasive personalities that may see themselves employed as interns, and hoped my jibes might include some useful pointers that can assist them to get on better with their fellow staff. Now, I’m directing this at you preceptors/pharmacists-in-charge out there. Yes, some of you suck, too.

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Instead of trying to come up with my own descriptions of drug recovery/rehab programs, I thought I’d borrow some I’ve come across, this is not original work, and you can google a phrase if you need the reference, but it’s food for thought, however, keep i in mind to speak to your General Practitioner, local health professional, or local health clinic for more information and to discuss your individual needs.

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So we can all admit that not all of the supplements, vitamins, homeopathic, natural, herbal, etc etc products we sell are 100% proven, and things we are likely to recommend to anyone. The Australian Skeptics group have taken it upon themselves to point their finger at pharmacists earlier this year.

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We tend to have a natural skepticism toward drugs reps, but we really should be skeptical about the information and not make it personal with the rep…

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This was what I wrote in regard to a specific post on an Australian health blog Croaky. That’s if the comment is approved, it still may be under moderation. I post it because it’s an argument we’ve all heard before, and it really applies to all short sighted views of pharmacy, particularly from our fellow professionals in the healthcare industry who should know better. It always seems to come back to “why do I have to wait so long for my prescription” and “you sell dodgy supplements and bad diet products” etc. I don’t know why I bothered to write such a lengthy response, but I did it on the spur of the moment and thought I’d share it with you.

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One of the major barriers to people being comfortable in coming up to the pharmacist to ask a question is the fact that in most pharmacies, this is far from a private setting.

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A Masseratti, now that would be nice…

Just some buddies from pharmacy around their ride…oh no, wait, that’s the cast of Entourage. My bad. (more…)