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Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Pharmacist = Medication Mentor

The most common complaint people have against my posts is that normal people do not understand the inner workings of the pharmacy. Good Point. Just as I don't understand the inner workings of the restaurant business or working the line at GM or selling stocks, I don't expect everyone to have the level of knowledge I possess about my profession.
HOWEVER, I know how to learn more about the other trades. I research it. I ask questions of the people who know what they are talking about. THEN, after getting the answers I sought, I take my newfound knowledge and improve whatever I was trying to accomplish. 

In the pharmacy world, people prefer to take what I tell them, ignore it, argue with me about it, then complain about what I told them. 
Insurance information changed? I will tell you you have a deductible. 
You will argue with me because you believe you are correct. You're not. 

I understand that it is easy for people to develop preconceived ideas. I also understand it is increasingly difficult to change these preconceptions in spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary. But YOU asked ME for my professional advice. Accept it. Improve your life with it. Remember it for next time. 

A Pretty Hollow Aged Gentleman Ignoring Advice: My wife has high blood pressure. 
CP: Phrom putting up with you?
APHAGIA: What? No. She has lots of drainage and a cough. What should I get?
CP: Away phrom her.
APHAGIA: No. To treat her.
CP: Oh. I'd say chlorpheniramine. Works quicker than the 24 hour antihistamines and shouldn't make her drowsy like Benadryl.
APHAGIA: Her doctor said no antihistamines.
CP: Curious. Why would he say that?
APHAGIA: They can increase her blood pressure.
CP: That's backwards.
APHAGIA: How so?
CP: Sudafed, which is a decongestant, can increase her blood pressure. It's also not going to do anything for her cough or the fact she is leaking. Her other choices phrom the myriad possibilities out there (read: four ingredients) include Dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant that's not too good at its job and can cause nervousness, and Guaifenesin, an expectorant which she does not need if she has a dry, postnasal drip-induced cough. She has an acute condition and needs an appropriate medication.
APHAGIA: I'll just get her this Robitussin DM. It's for cough.
CP: Sure thing. Can you just sign this release phorm phor me, please?
APHAGIA: Sure. What is it?
CP: It's a standard in the pharmacy world now. It states: "I, the patient or the patient's representative who was sent to the store to ask appropriate questions and select the most appropriate therapy for my/their conditions, completely refused the expert professional's advice after a lengthy discussion and will not hold said pharmacist accountable when the medication does not work, my/their condition(s) worsen, and I am phorced to come back to the pharmacy phor the correct (original product suggested) or return to the pharmacy with prescriptions due to a worsening of initial symptoms that would have been thwarted had I listened to your expertise phrom the outset. This document serves to indemnify the pharmacist phrom all accountability due to ignorance of professional services provided here today.
APHAGIA: Wow. Seems wordy.
CP: I am witty with words and I read lots of medical studies and legal updates. It seeps in. Think of it as leaving the hospital AMA or leaving the doctor after your wife's visit for her HBP checkup and deciding not to phollow his advice on treating the HBP with medication and dietary changes. Would you do that?
APHAGIA: No.
CP: Still want this Robitussin DM?
APHAGIA: Yes.
CP: I was right and you lied to me.
APHAGIA About what?
CP: Your wife's high blood pressure. It is phrom putting up with you.


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