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..
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…)
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…
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…)
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.
A little video about pharmacy in 1946, always interesting to know the history of your profession I think. What will pharmacy look like in 2046, not really that far away. There will always be a place for easy access to medications, and there will always be a need for a human, professional, point of contact, but the way in which is will be setup will be interesting to see. I don’t think the standalone robotic dispenser with no human interference will ever happen when it comes to medication.
Can you image? If you slip a buck into a vending maching and your coke gets stuck, you let it go, or you put another buck in and have a shot with getting a fanta. If you put you last remaining repeat prescription into a machine and your migraine medication gets jammed, well, you’re screwed on that buddy. (more…)
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.
Some of the names, faces, and appliances have been changed to protect identities
It’s great to be helpful but you need to wonder if things have gone way too far in respect to the ‘above and beyond’ attitude pharmacies take to please their customers…and no, it’s not all about the money/keeping the customers. Some customers are more trouble than they’re (financially) worth to the store, but we keeping chugging along, doing our bit for the people that comes in and out of our store and eventually instill in us an obligation that must help them at all costs. (more…)
I came across this article which mentions something we’ve read in similar studies and articles that state that pharmacists are the top, or in the top three usually, most trusted professions. I wonder if we still feel this to be the case for a couple reasons.
In a recent post I mention the move toward discount pharmacies. While this may have some positives for the public on their bottom line when visiting the pharmacy, there are somedraw backs I will discuss later, but for now I want to focus on the issue of trust. Going back a few years, I don’t really think you need to go back to far, lets say, maybe four or five years ago, the public did not have a clear concept on drug pricing. The pharmacy would charge what they charge and that was that. Now, for those in the pharmacy profession, I think we can agree previously we were charging reasonable prices and this helped support what is effectively a small business for the owner and all the costs involved, as well as having many staff on hand so when a customer walked in wait was minimal. Secondly, there is an onus of responsibility on the pharmacist who has also dedicated much time and expense in becoming qualified, so in line with similar professions, monetary reimbursement is expected. In general, it was a fair system. (more…)
The material for this comment comes from a question asked through our ‘Ask a Question’ portal. Of course no specific detail will given as all medication question are confidential, but these red-flagged questions will hopefully be educational to our non medical readers, and those pharmacy students/new pharmas who need to remember to check any drug combined with pregnancy (or lactation for that matter) and not assume its probably okay because its not one of those extreme Catagory X drugs you get scared with at university.
A question posed was if a certain blood pressure medication is okay to take while pregnant. This person already was pregnant and there was a reasonable amount of time before her next doctor’s appointment and hence when this issue would have been discussed. (more…)
A question we often have from people in our pharmacy is “do I need this?”. Often the answer you will receive is “It depends…”
Certain supplements may be required by your doctor based on a health condition you may have or a blood test which has shown a low amount of a particular chemical in your body. As you’d expect, if you’re doctor has asked you to have a certain supplement, we encourage you to follow your doctor’s advice. If you find you are not feeling well or have some type of adverse effect since initiating that supplement, you should let your doctor know.(more…)
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. 
A Masseratti, now that would be nice…
I came across this 