What do you say to the insulin-dependent diabetic with blood pressure reading of 197/99? The patient had a cart of poor diet choices which included 2 loaves of white bread, sodium-laden prepared food, chips and soda when she stopped by for a blood pressure check. After the screening, I quizzed her on her medication, prior […]

Sometimes we want results faster than we are prepared to have them. I was counseling a patient recently on medications relating to cholesterol and hypertension. She wanted to know how long it would take for her medications to start working. In addition, she began an exercise regimen to compliment her medication plan and saw no […]

For a long time most, if not all, literature on health and the healthy lifestyle touts following a pre-determined set of physical rules. These rules dictate the proper way to eat, exercise, sleep and live to stay healthy. But what happens when people do everything that they should and the unthinkable happens? Then we turn […]

I was in a bookstore a few days ago with my family. Since I was becoming “dated” in my clothing style choices, I gravitated over to the Men’s magazine section and began flipping through them. As I was taking mental notes on the fashion trends and combinations, I stumbled upon an article on antiaging products […]

One of the hardest things pharmacy students have to master is the mind-set shift from student pharmacist to pharmacist. As a preceptor, one of my duties is to facilitate this process during their clinical rotations at my site before they sit for the board exam. Some students adapt quickly – within the first week, while […]

It’s no surprise that Florida is the “Oxycodone Capital” of the US. So much has been in the media about this drug causing deaths, addictions and jail sentences. There has been a lot of “finger-pointing” on who to blame for its availability… the physician, the pharmacist or the drug dealer/fake patient. One thing we can […]

During these tough economic times, many service companies have had to make some difficult decisions to remain viable. Retail chain pharmacy is no exception to this decision-making process. As more patients move to mail-order fulfillment for their chronic medication supplies and physician-dispensing increases to offset drops in insurance reimbursements, retail pharmacy numbers are dropping. The […]

Chapter 21 of the Laws of 2011 in New York State authorizes pharmacists to perform collaborative drug therapy management with physicians in teaching hospitals, including any diagnostic center, treatment center, or hospital-based outpatient department. This was signed into law last week and is a nice lead in to this week’s blog: The evolution of the […]

The beauty of blogging is that sometimes you don’t have to if there is nothing to say. This week, though, I have a lot to say as I reflected on what retail pharmacists do every day – give away free advice in the form of recommendations. There are two schools of thought on this – […]

I was talking to my service manager at the car dealership about loaner expense. He was relating stories to me on how people drop off their cars for service, get loaners and then take their time to return the loaners even after their cars are ready for pickup. I’m not talking about returning the loaner […]