I am subscribed to the Drug Topics E-alert newsletter. I don’t know why, I just am.
I can’t recall the last time that the E-alert had any really important information.
Usually it’s unimportant stuff.
For example, the most recent E-alert in my mailbox has these four items as the stuff that I need alerted to:
- Government to pay doctors to use e-prescriptions
- FDA approves generic divalproex sodium
- San Francisco pharmacies ordered to stop selling tobacco products
- Drug errors originating from home see sharp increase
Pharmacy God’s reactions to these E-alert-worthy notices:
- How long until we are taxed on these electronic communications? And you can bet that the pharmacy will be the one responsible for paying
- So.
- Does that include hand-rolled cigarettes made by illegal immigrants residing in San Francisco?
- What do you expect, given our a-pill-to-fix-everything society?
In her little blurb that links from the e-mail, Judy Chi references an article from the Archives of Internal Medicine that compares the number of fatal drug errors in 2004 to fatal drug errors in 1983.
1983.
That’s twenty one years difference.
There’s no mention of the number of total prescriptions dispensed in the two comparison years, so we don’t really know what the relative increase truly is. I'm not going to look up the actual article to see if that is addressed in the article. That would be interesting to know, however.
Of course there is the obligatory reference to Heath Ledger’s overdose.
Did you know he died recently from an overdose?
If over six months ago is considered recent.
And then there’s the genius solution…. Requiring pharmacists to counsel patients about high-risk drugs, as well as the dangers of interactions and overdoses (ummmm...... don't we already do that).
With the mention that pharmacists might be paid for doing so.
Let’s just say that I’m not going to count on that to pay next month’s mortgage payment.
Maybe some of our elected officials in WashingtonDC will get wind of this hot news story and decide to move Tylenol and Motrin behind the counter and have the patients sign a log book before they can purchase them.
I am subscribed to the Drug Topics E-alert newsletter. I don’t know why, I just am.
I can’t recall the last time that the E-alert had any really important information. Usually it’s unimportant stuff. For example, the most recent E-alert in my mailbox has these four items as the stuff that I need alerted to:
Pharmacy God’s reactions to these E-alert-worthy notices:In her little blurb that links from the e-mail, Judy Chi references an article from the Archives of Internal Medicine that compares the number of fatal drug errors in 2004 to fatal drug errors in 1983.
1983.
That’s twenty one years difference.
There’s no mention of the number of total prescriptions dispensed in the two comparison years, so we don’t really know what the relative increase truly is. I'm not going to look up the actual article to see if that is addressed in the article. That would be interesting to know, however.Of course there is the obligatory reference to Heath Ledger’s overdose. Did you know he died recently from an overdose? If over six months ago is considered recent. And then there’s the genius solution…. Requiring pharmacists to counsel patients about high-risk drugs, as well as the dangers of interactions and overdoses (ummmm...... don't we already do that). With the mention that pharmacists might be paid for doing so. Let’s just say that I’m not going to count on that to pay next month’s mortgage payment.
Maybe some of our elected officials inWashington DC