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.
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.
“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.
All you US pharmacists are probably well aware of Jim Plagakis and his insightful website. If not you should be. I won’t say more because you are better off going straight there and finding out for yourself.
Jim was the inspiration for starting this blog section of this site to provide an Australian perspective on the profession, when he posted a reply of mine which can be found here. Essentially it is a brief run down on the Australian pharmacy system, so if you’re from Australia skip that and go straight to Jim’s blog. For those who want to know a little more about how (in general) the Australian system may compare to their own, have a quick read, and then be sure to take a look at Jim’s blog, definitely worth going back and looking at the older posts as well.
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 colleague recently mentioned he had heard Vitamin D can be used against H1N1 (Swine Flu). I decided to look into this should a flurry of queries come in from customers once this leaks to a radio program or current affairs program (where apparently there are right 100% of the time, according to many customers).
This link includes some info but I can’t comment on the reliability of the source. The NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine) has a post but I haven’t got access at the moment. (more…)
When Drug Counselling Goes Bad
I’m not sure about you, but I’m not feeling the joy here. This was pulled from a leaflet I found in the dispensary, as captivated as I was by the image, I didn’t read the entire contents, but it was something about asking your pharmacist about your meds, which is an excellent point, but, yes, what caption would you give that image…?
