By Charles B. Inlander

Doctors may prescribe your medications, but your pharmacist may actually know more about those medications.

As a savvy caregiver you should take advantage of that knowledge. Whether you fill your prescriptions at a local pharmacy or you receive them from a mail order pharmacy, never hesitate to talk to the pharmacist if you have any questions or concerns about the proper use, side effects, or possible interactions a particular drug might have with other medications your loved one is taking.      

This column is devoted to helping you learn more about your pharmacist and how to get the most from that important relationship.

Education

These days, pharmacists are better trained than ever. Pharmacy school graduates must have at least two years of regular college courses before they enter the four year pharmacy school program. After those six years they graduate with a PharmD degree. Pharmacy school training is far different than it was 30 or 40 years ago. Because of the huge increase in the number of prescription drugs and their complexity, most pharmacists are trained to be “medication-use specialists”, in addition to their other courses. Such training allows them to serve as your consultant in the use and problems associated with the drugs you or a loved one take.  They are also better equipped to consult with you or your loved one’s doctor about the medications he or she prescribes.

Consultant

Pharmacists may be your best information source about medications. Their training and knowledge about specific drugs and how drugs may interact with each other are invaluable. They may know more about over-the-counter (OTC) drugs than the average doctor, which is important if your loved one is taking both prescription and OTC medications. Recognizing this, federal law requires that pharmacists be available to counsel patients on the prescriptions they fill. The law also permits the pharmacist to speak to a loved one or caregiver if the person for whom the prescription is intended is unable to personally receive the information.

Be aware, however, that studies show most people are not advised of this right. Many pharmacies try to get around this rule by asking you to sign a tiny slip when you pick up a prescription. Read it before you sign. By signing it, you might have just waived your right to counseling at that time. So if you have any questions, do not sign, but instead ask to speak to the pharmacist directly. Of course, feel free to call the pharmacist any time you have a question.

Avoiding Errors

Medication errors are on the rise in the United States. An error can be as simple as the wrong number of pills in a container or as frightening as the wrong drug being dispensed. Common problems include a doctor’s handwriting being misread by a pharmacist (which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has attempted to decipher a prescription slip), the wrong drug being dispensed when two different drugs have names that sound alike, or simple (but potentially dangerous) slip-ups made by an overworked pharmacist.

To help avoid this type of error, ask your loved one’s doctor to print the name and dosage of the prescription he or she is writing on a separate piece of paper for you. Don’t hesitate to ask the doctor to pronounce the name of the drug for you. Be sure to compare the name of the drug on the paper with the drug handed to you at the pharmacy or coming to you by mail order. Ask the pharmacist, not the person who takes your money, to double check that this is the right drug and the right dosage.

Pharmacists are becoming more important in this era of medication-based treatment. The more you know about your pharmacist, the better off you and your loved one will be.