What to Expect from Your Pharmacist

By Candi Smith, Contributing Writer

Many of us use a pharmacy on a regular basis — some daily, and some on an as-needed basis. In 2000, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that 44 percent of respondents reported taking at least one drug in the past month, and 17 percent were taking three or more.

With that in mind, what we can do to help our pharmacist help us?

Patrick W. Ridder, a pharmacist with Costco Wholesale Pharmacy in Kansas City, Missouri, discussed the advantage of using generic versus brand name drugs.

“Generic drugs are therapeutically equivalent to brand name drugs, and they’re cheaper,” Ridder stated. He further explained that in order for a generic drug to be sold in a pharmacy, it must be FDA-approved, and must have the same pharmacological effects as brand name drugs (such as dosage, intended use, effects, and side effects).

Ridder described how a pharmacist discovers if your drugs interact with one another: each pharmacy has computer software designed to notify pharmacists of potential interactions, or if a drug will negatively affect a patient due to a particular health problem.

However, this software is unique to each pharmacy (or chain), and doesn’t allow for cross-pharmacy communication. Ridder pointed out that using multiple pharmacies will weaken the flow of communication because pharmacies do not generally communicate with one another.

“It’s the patient’s responsibility to openly communicate with both their doctor and their pharmacist,” he cautioned. “Don’t depend on your providers to communicate directly with each other.”

Ridder emphasized that a patient should conduct an annual medicine cabinet review, and discard drugs (whether prescribed, over-the-counter or home remedy) that have expired. Also, any drug has not been used within the past year should be discarded (unless it’s a drug used on an as-needed basis). “Reevaluate your first aid items and restock what you need,” Ridder urged.

Most pharmacists will help you evaluate your stock of drugs through a “brown bag” assessment, which can be done by approaching the pharmacy consultation window with your “brown bag” of medications. This will help you determine drugs to keep or discard, or if drugs you have on hand contain medicinal properties that duplicate one another.

Ridder said pharmacists are happy to conduct these assessments because providing good customer service helps to inform patients, and decrease the potential for drug interactions and misuse.

Take the time to educate yourself about the drugs you take. And openly communicate with your pharmacist — it is an important step in protecting your overall health.

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