Comments on: Real Life Sucked Today

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 03:32:59 +0000

If these ‘scripts had gone through the local KMart pharmacy that we have used for years, Jim would have been on the phone to us telling us he was waiting for a call from the doctor before he filled the order because there would be problems.

The meds came of the organization in charge of care, and arrives by FedEx overnight. The pharmacy works with groups all over the US, and only has a limited record on patients. The doctors and nurses are the ones with the full history, and they don’t really understand the possible problems like I do.

Most of the web sites note problems, but none of them mention the full spectrum that I witnessed.

Hospital pharmacies in for-profit hospitals are implicated in a lot of the unnecessary deaths of patients because there is no down side for the hospital if something goes wrong, unlike K-P. Doctors don’t really understand about lowering dosages for seniors, and lowering further depending on the condition of the kidneys. It’s up to me to ride herd on the process, and cut pills and/or frequency if I’m not happy with what the ‘professionals’ have done.

By: Badtux

Badtux — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 00:39:05 +0000

Kryten, good pharmacists are getting hard to find here in the US. The small family-owned pharmacies are gone, leaving the giant corporate chain stores where the pharmacist rarely is willing to spend more than a minute with you because when he’s with you, none of the orders that require a licensed pharmacist are getting filled. Pharmacists have become pill dispensers rather than part of the healthcare system.

One of the few exceptions, BTW, is Kaiser-Permanente. Their pharmacy has a list of all prescribed medicines and their interactions database is up-to-date, and they’re willing to spend as much time as possible to make sure that you understand the interactions of the meds and what side effects to expect. That’s primarily because they end up paying if you have a bad interaction that lands you in the hospital since it’s an integrated system, and they want to avoid that if at all possible. They found that a bit of money on the front end (the pharmacy) saves a *lot* of money on the back end (hospitalizations for bad drug interactions). Interesting how setting up the incentives that way suddenly makes the pharmacy more responsive…

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 19:06:23 +0000

EDIT: Sorry, didn’t see elroon’s post. Agree.

I thought that in the USA, the Pharmacy was supposed to give a printout of drug interactions with the medication. It’s also why it’s a really good idea to get to know the Pharmacist, and more importantly, they know the patient and the med’s the patient takes.

Over the years, I’ve tried various online ‘drug interaction checkers’ and found most to be wanting. Some are years out of date, others only have the newest drug’s, or the database is small. *shrug*

The only effective means I’ve found is via a good Pharmacist. Way it is unfortunately.

Glad you got though that trial OK. 🙂 And yeah, you have to question everything & take nothing for granted, unfortunately.

By: ellroon

ellroon — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 16:11:20 +0000

I thought the pharmacist was supposed to catch those ‘interactions’… although I have a friend who had to literally fall down a few times before they checked her meds. Another friend had the doctor and his wife assistant yell at her because she was questioning his decisions on way too many medications. (She changed doctors and got better).

Sorry you’re having to go through this. Hugs to you and your mom, whichever universe she’s in at the moment.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 05:08:53 +0000

In reply to hipparchia. It was, and I am demanding oversight of all medications coming into the house. If they aren't going to check for problems, I will.

By: hipparchia

hipparchia — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 04:26:02 +0000

Tomorrow should be better.

I hope so.