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…
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.
Description 1: (more…)
I recently was involved in a discussion around whether the old style dispensaries should be changing to something with less barriers to the public, both from seeing what we do and with speaking to us. A chain in Australia experimented with that and I explain why it didn’t work. However, the practicality of dealing with people barking their drug orders to you, as well as the advent of robotic dispensing, things may change again.
How many times have you wanted to call the doctor and say “Seriously dude, really? Is that what you wrote?” While I have avoid saying “dude” in my professional conversations, that about captures what goes through my mind. Doctor’s handwriting – this is an old and much discussed topic of frustration, but still worth a mention. Just because it’s frustrating, yes that’s one reason, and I like to complain, but also because the chance of an incorrect drug being selected also increases.
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.
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.
“C’mon, can’t any of you give me some codeine!? Seriouly, I’ve got a prescription at home…C’MON!”
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.
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…)
Here’s your Oxycontin (insert mischievous laugh here) (more…)
Although this occurred some time ago, I recently came across this article and thought it was another example of being vigilant when dispensing medication. More specifically, not blindly dispensing when there is cause to call the doctor and ask for an explanation for an order. (more…)
For those fellow Aussies who are unaware in certain states in the US you can pick up a carton of your favourite smokes (that’s what you say right? Sorry, I don’t know smokers slang…if that exists) right next to nicotine replacement patches, so you can decide which you might pursue when you get home.
This is old news to the Americans, but take a look at this article which talks about Boston changing their mind and enforcing their pharmacies to remove all tobacco products. (more…)
Without taking it too personally, this is both sharp, slightly funny take on the public’s view of pharmacy, but sadly, as we know from our customers, an accurate impression of what some view our profession to be.
