Some Pharmacy Changes Are Coming

Are you ready? Pharmacy changes are about to take place. We, pharmacists, are going to be able to counsel everyone! All these 30 second phone wait, 15 minute guarantees, auto refills, select decline to counsel, and other metrics will fall by the wayside. Filling as many scripts as possible with as little help as possible will gradually fade away. We have to counsel and take our time to fill prescriptions correctly. The profession of doctor of pharmacy is about to change.

We are going to do what we were taught in our colleges and schools of pharmacy. Counsel patients about their medications to increase compliance and have great clinical outcomes. We will even be able to tell patients not to drink milk with their antibiotics. Sometimes I feel like I do not even have time for that. Who is ready for restroom breaks? I cannot tell you how many times I have held my bowel movements and urine until there was a pause. If I go to the restroom, patients will complain because their prescription will take longer to fill. Thus, when they do the survey, they will say their Rx was not filled within their time limit.

Some pharmacies close for lunch. All pharmacies should close for lunch! I heard that patients complain that they had to wait 30 minutes to get their prescription filled because the pharmacy was closed. The patients said the pharmacy should never close for lunch for emergencies. I know they waited at the doctors office for an hour. I guess drive thru's make it seem like it should be fast food. I want my prescription now, just slap a label on it. What if the prescription is Coumadin? You will die if you take too much or take it with aspirin! People just do not care. By the way, I cannot wait to counsel. Pharmacy is about to change!

Expensive Erectile Dysfunction Medications: Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis

I cannot believe it took the human species, or a man, so long to find a chemical that would cause an erection. Sex is the basis to life. We need it to reproduce. When we found that sex could feel good, we needed to have it all the time. People just lived in frustration if their husband or lover could not "perform" anymore. Finally, in 2003, a new chemical that was going to be used for blood pressure that caused a significant side effect, an erection. The chemical was introduced to the market as sildenafil, or as we know it, Viagra! Viagra was marketed for erectile dysfunction. It took about 20 minutes to an hour to start working, and some patients would see a blue hue to know it was time to go at it. I think getting an erection would tell you it was time to go. The medication could last 4 hours. Quickly, we had three expensive erectile dysfunction medications, Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis, available. They range in price from $25 to 35 dollars per pill! Sometimes the copay is outrageous or not even covered by prescription insurance!

Pharmaceutical companies started to adjust certain parts of the chemical to make the side effect longer lasting, and then, Cialis was born. Cialis could start working in 15 to 20 minutes and last up to 36 hours! I sell mostly Viagra and Cialis. Viagra is supposed to be going generic very soon. There goes another multibillion dollar medication for Pfizer. Lipitor was their previous money maker that went generic in November 2011.

There are some new medications like Staxyn and Stendra. Staxyn is an orally disintegrating tablet of the popular drug Levitra. Stendra lasts up to 6 hours and starts to work in about 15 minutes.

Can You Believe There Is a Flu Shot Song!

There is a flu shot song out now called hit me with a flu shot. It is a Pat Benatar parody to her hit song Hit Me With Your Best Shot. This song was floating around the emails at a pharmacy. Has it really come down to this about vaccinations? I cannot believe there is a song about it. Here are the lyrics to the song:
What you're a real tough virus with a long history
Of changing into forms that are hard to treat
That's okay there's nothing to it
Roll up my sleeve and let the vaccine do it
Hit me with the flu shot
Why don't you hit me with the flu shot
Hit me with the flu shot, fire away
You come on all a'sudden
You don't fight fair
But that's okay because I'm aware
Knock me down, it's all in vain
'Cause I've had the shot for the new flu strain

Hit me with the flu shot
Why don't you hit me with the flu shot
Hit me with the flu shot, fire away
Well you're a real tough virus with a long history
Infecting healthy lungs like the ones in me
Before I get exposed with a cough in my face
I'm going to make sure I put you in your place

Hit me with the flu shot
Why don't you hit me with the flu shot
Hit me with the flu shot, fire away
Hit me with the flu shot
Why don't you hit me with the flu shot
Hit me with the flu shot, fire away



This flu shot song is kind of catchy. I think it is because I like the real song, already. Have you heard of any flu shot songs are crazy pharmacy songs? I think I'm going to make a song about OxyContin!

Where Were You?

I will never forget going to class at pharmacy school, and the Dean of Students and Admissions telling us class was cancelled because a plane had hit one of the towers. I went to the library to study and paused to watch the news on a television at the entrance. About five students stopped to watch with me and then the second plane hit. I could not believe it! I stood there shocked as they replayed it over and over. I will never forget!

Use the Pharmacy's Systems And Do Not Come in at the Last Minute!

     What is the deal with running out of your medication? Come in early, call ahead, or use the phones' automated system. At my pharmacy, a pharmacy technician can process a refill of your medication. You do not need the pharmacist to look you up in the system to refill your medication. I had one of my old patients come in and say that she read an article about calling in using the automated system instead of calling and asking for the pharmacist. The article said, it wastes about five minutes of the pharmacist's time when I could be doing something else like counseling instead of trying to get her prescription refilled. I wish I knew what the article was, so I could print it off and give it to all of my patients.

     Nobody can ever find their Rx number. I know you have the excuse that you cannot find the prescription number. If you would stick with one pharmacy, then maybe you could learn where it is on the bottle. I understand that some patients forget their bottle, and they are at work. But, I know this is not always the case. Also, driving in the car trying to refill your medication is probably not the smartest thing to do. The patient, then says, that they are in the parking lot and coming in the store. "Can you have it ready?" Heck no, it will not be ready! If no one is waiting already, then it will probably be at least 10 minutes.

     Why do customers and patients wait until the last minute to come to the pharmacy? Almost every night they come in  with five or less minutes left before we close. It always seems to be a new patient that has never been to the pharmacy before. No, I cannot fill your prescription. By the way, this is the same phrase I say to people with their Oxycontin 30mg with a quantity of #180. It will take at least 15 minutes to put you in the system, insert your insurance, enter in your prescription, make sure it goes through your insurance, pull and count the medication, label the bottle, check the prescription, and ring up your Rx. Oh, I almost forgot, they will hand you a drug coupon at the register, and you will have to reprocess the Rx again. Usually, if it is an antibiotic or one of my regulars, I will fill the prescription. There is a reason for 24 hour pharmacies and my pharmacy is not one of them!