am I just naive?

[Vinceman18]

Hi, I am a senior in my undergrad and have just gotten accepted into pharmacy school. Personally, I am a person who believes that some drugs are bad or only provides marginal benefits at a high cost and were created with intent on making a profit. I know there are many drugs that are good for people.

My question is, when I become a pharmacist in four years, is it against any policies, whether government or corporations to hand out articles or data that would influence a patient from not taking a drug? some drugs just seems "shady" for now.

p.s. I am aware that i do not know anything about drugs yet, and i hope to gain knowledge from pharmacy school.

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[genesis09]

Hi, I am a senior in my undergrad and have just gotten accepted into pharmacy school. Personally, I am a person who believes that some drugs are bad or only provides marginal benefits at a high cost and were created with intent on making a profit. I know there are many drugs that are good for people.

My question is, when I become a pharmacist in four years, is it against any policies, whether government or corporations to hand out articles or data that would influence a patient from not taking a drug? some drugs just seems "shady" for now.

p.s. I am aware that i do not know anything about drugs yet, and i hope to gain knowledge from pharmacy school.

Cough, Clarinex, Xyzal, cough. Some drugs do come up because the patent on the original drug is about to expire, or the drug is going to go OTC.
If the drug is bad, it would not have made it through the testing procedures. Some don't work as well as others.
The business of pharmacy says you want as many people on drugs as possible. That's the only way to make a profit.

 

[Farmercyst]

I'm not aware of any policy or procedure that prevents you from providing a customer/patient information that you believe would help them become informed of their drug choices and the effects of those decisions. However, you do this at your own peril. Much like providing advice to anyone for any reason, there are always consequences to informing the public, some of which are unforseen. If you provide misinformation, or "convince" someone to stop taking a medication that would prolong life, even at the expense of quality of life, you may see it come back to haunt you later. I can't speak to liability, but from a social aspect, encouraging others to reduce their life at the saving of their quality of life can be seen as detrimental to one's health and may not sit well for surviving family members you may encounter.

Forgive the ramble, but it's what came to mind.

 

[twester]

I went to a presentation by an acupuncturist a while back who said that many of his patients were pharmacists trying to avoid taking drugs. Welcome to the profession!

 

[mike36]

I went to a presentation by an acupuncturist a while back who said that many of his patients were pharmacists trying to avoid taking drugs. Welcome to the profession!

In pharmacy administration last semester, the professor talked about how most healthcare preofessionals, including pharmacists and physicians, were the worst about not wanting to take medicications because they know more than anyone how drugs can affect your physiology.

 

[BrownSound]

Hi, I am a senior in my undergrad and have just gotten accepted into pharmacy school. Personally, I am a person who believes that some drugs are bad or only provides marginal benefits at a high cost and were created with intent on making a profit. I know there are many drugs that are good for people.

My question is, when I become a pharmacist in four years, is it against any policies, whether government or corporations to hand out articles or data that would influence a patient from not taking a drug? some drugs just seems "shady" for now.

p.s. I am aware that i do not know anything about drugs yet, and i hope to gain knowledge from pharmacy school.

You are not naive completely. I myself don't know much about drugs either, starting to learn a bit about them. What I did learn this year is that YES most NEW DRUGS that are more expensive than older drugs are not proven to be more safe and effective. Yet they are more costly for patients to buy.

I believe as a pharmacist it will be OUR JOB to mitigate the marketing influence of the pharmaceutical industry by providing patients with an objective viewpoint about the safety and effectiveness of medications. It is not against policy to inform patients of the truth. But its certainly unethical if you choose to misinform them by either persuading them not to take drugs that they desperately need or by trying to get every penny out of them by unnecessarily overmedicating them.

Who knows..maybe some may consider me naive too?

 

[KUMoose]

Take a look at Pfizer's pregabalin trials for fibromyalgia. The trial presented last year had a placebo/drug success rate virtually identical.

 

[MountainPharmD]

I have told many, many patients if you can avoid taking a pill do it. In my opinion taking prescription medications should be a last resort after all else has failed.

 

[azPharmD2B]

I work for a PBM and we routinely send out documentation to patients about the drugs they are taking, what the drugs are for, other drugs in the same class, how they compare, and price differences between them. A lot of people don't realize that the pill they take once a day can be replaced by the exact same drug, only taken twice a day, for 1/10th the cost.

You can also educate patients about step therapy. Try out the older, more established drugs and see how well they work and if any side effects are managable. Again, too many patients seem to think that whatever the doctor prescribes is the only option.

Also, before ever even mentioning to a patient about the possibility of not needing to take a medication, you must realize that you don't all the details. What you have documented in the computer and what the patient tells you is not the whole story. I'm sure plenty of people walk out of the doctor's office without truly understanding their condition, how it came to be, or why they are taking the drug. Worse yet, they'll try and explain it to you. Its like playing that game of 'telephone' as a kid, only instead of a simple phrase in English, you have technical terms, drug names, etc. Very good chance of miscommunication.

 

[genesis09]

There was once a study about prescriber behavior before and after a visit from a drug rep. After a visit from a drug rep, the number of prescriptions for the drug he/she was selling normally increases.

 

[RXpress]

Wouldn't that interfere with the patient-doctor relationship? I think before a pharmacist could make suggestions about specific drug regimens, a conversation should have to take place with all three people involved discussing the options.

 

[azPharmD2B]

Wouldn't that interfere with the patient-doctor relationship? I think before a pharmacist could make suggestions about specific drug regimens, a conversation should have to take place with all three people involved discussing the options.

How so? Its not like the pharmacist can dispense the alternative drug without a prescription. The pharmacist can provide the information to the patient and then its up to the patient to discuss it with their physician. Or the pharmacist can try and call to discuss it. Any physician who sees it as a pharmacist interference is not a physician I would want to continue to see. Physicians are great at diagnosing, but only meh at drug str/choice/dosing decisions.

Or, as genesis mentioned, prescribing for kickbacks.

 

[Pharmavixen]

I have told many, many patients if you can avoid taking a pill do it. In my opinion taking prescription medications should be a last resort after all else has failed.

I do this, too (I'm sure you meant, depending on the clinical situation. Surely you don't tell people not to take their antihypertensives or levothyroxine.)

But yes; over the years, I have counselled many folks not to take antibiotics for a cold, even if they are handing me a script for one. A doctor at a nearby clinic told me a couple of years ago I could get in trouble for doing this.

Well...I've been doing this for twenty-one years now, and no lawsuits so far...

 

[kalove07]

In pharmacy administration last semester, the professor talked about how most healthcare preofessionals, including pharmacists and physicians, were the worst about not wanting to take medicications because they know more than anyone how drugs can affect your physiology.

I was just discussing that with my mother yesterday. Her sinuses are acting up with her main issue being a sore throat. She decided to take some basic OTC medication but I told her that stuff doesn't work, at least that's how I feel from experience. Whenever I have a sore throat, I drink a mixture of vinegar, lemon juice, and honey together and it instantly works.