– by Trysh Ashby-Rolls –
A client asked how long it would take to fill his prescription. “It won’t be more than five minutes, will it? I mean, all you have to do is count the pills and stick ’em in a bottle. Right?”
“You want the right pills?” replied the pharmacist. “You want me to show you how to use them correctly? You want me to tell you the side effects? You want to know if there’ll be any interactions with your other medications? Normally it’d take about 15 minutes. I’m sorry, but now you’ll have to wait 20 minutes because you just wasted five extra minutes of my time.”
Sidney resident Scott Frombach has been a pharmacist for 30 years. “Some people think we’re just pill pushers, but we do a lot more than that. Our role is multifaceted. We are the go-between between doctors and their patients – our clientele.”
It’s a good thing to have a regular pharmacist on your health care team. The pharmacist gets to know your health profile and, from experience and training, can tell whether certain medications will interact negatively. Of course, there is PharmaNet, which lists all medications online that a client has ever been prescribed in B.C. since PharmaNet began.
“I used to work at the pharmacy beside the health clinic in Sidney. Some patients had files this thick.” Scott spreads his fingers eight centimetres wide.
Physicians must be computer savvy these days. They can write patient notes and bill the visit on a tablet or iPad. Paper prescriptions must be printed out, however, include the doctor’s signature, and be presented at the pharmacy by the patient or substitute. (Except in the case of narcotics.) Online notes and prescriptions save time and prevent mistakes inherent in sloppy handwriting.
Does the pharmacist see any horror stories?
One woman kept her pills and vitamins mixed together in a bowl, exposed to heat, cold and dust. Her cats and dog ate or played with the “treats,” and her grandchildren visited often. “That’s just horrible,” Frombach says. “Complete foolishness.”
In another case, card players compared ailments. “I take such-and-such for that. Wanna try some of mine?”
“No you don’t,” the man’s wife warned. Frombach agrees. “Never do that; never share meds. You don’t know the correct strength for you, or even if that’s the right pill for your condition.”
What about seniors who take half a pill to save money?
“Sometimes dosage is not critical – for example cholesterol reducers. But never halve time release pills. You could get in serious trouble.” He explains you’d get all the benefits in an hour or two that are supposed to last over 24 hours. “Heart pills you must be very careful in following the doctor’s orders.”
What about seniors who abuse medications?
“Certainly there are senior substance abusers. Lots of seniors are hooked on sleeping pills and tranquilizers, but whether it’s habit or addiction I don’t know.” PharmaNet prevents double doctoring; Scott Frombach wants to see prescriptions cut for these medications. He likes seeing people healthy and is only too pleased to dispense advice on how to gradually wean off a medication if that’s the client’s goal. “Start walking. Day one: round the block. Day two: a few steps further. If it’s raining, put on a raincoat. Get a dog. Dogs get you out walking. Stop overeating. When you’re full, stop. You’ll get healthy.”
Most of us could take a leaf out of this pharmacist’s book.
