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Dear Carol, I have recently had an experience that I would like to share with your readers. My father has several serious physical and mental problems and his medical record is complicated. Recently, a new medication for respiratory problems has been published and his doctor, who is remarkable in all respects, has seen no reason for dad not to try it. We left the clinic in a good mood, but we had just brought Dad home when my phone rang. It was the pharmacy that told me that an update of the information had just alerted them that Dad's newly prescribed medication could seriously interfere with one of his other medications. I asked the pharmacist to continue with the doctor and a different medicine was then prescribed. What I mean is that even the best doctor may not have the latest information on a drug. It is therefore important that a pharmacist double-checks our prescriptions for the management of our health. Thank you for allowing me to thank the pharmacists of our community. – LC.
Dear LC, I am pleased to have another opportunity to sing the praises of community pharmacists.
Doctors are required to keep up with a huge amount of information constantly evolving so they can offer the best advice to their patients. Most of them are also knowledgeable about new drugs that can help their patients, as well as about the guidelines of the American Medical Association for prescribing them. In addition, most physicians have the electronic ability to detect the reactions and interactions common to each drug.
However, unlike physicians, it is up to the pharmacist to focus solely on drugs, including the latest updates and their potential impact on their customers. This makes it our main line of defense for drugs.
I've seen situations similar to the one you describe in my own family. In one case, a family member was prescribed a drug in a walk-in clinic containing an ingredient related to an ingredient for which he had a potentially serious allergy. Like your father, another family member has a complicated medical history and a doctor who did not know his entire past prescribed a potentially dangerous drug change. In both cases, pharmacists detected the errors.
ARCHIVE: Read more columns from Minding Our Elders by Carol Bradley Bursack
Pharmacists do more than check security, though. Our local pharmacists work with insurance companies to get the essential drugs into the system without delay. In addition, I had times when they were quick to fill a prescription because they knew that a client was suffering a lot.
Our pharmacists also used their precious time to find a vital but generic drug that a manufacturer had stopped preventing without prescription so that the prescription could be executed.
For these reasons, as well as for more general reasons, such as the recommendation of over-the-counter medications for colds and flu, pharmacists should be considered an essential part of our health care team. We leave them out of the loop at our peril.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to once again emphasize their important contribution to our health.
Carol Bradley Bursack is a veteran caregiver and established columnist. She is also a blogger and the author of "Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Tell Their Own Stories". Bradley Bursack hosts a website for caregivers and seniors at www.mindingourelders.com. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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