On April 10, the Today Show aired a piece on prescription drugs used in the United States. Normally, the Today Show is so liberal, I don’t always agree, but they really did a great section on the “Pill Nation” we live in today. Here are some of their findings: They pose the question: Is America overprescribed? Are we taking too many prescriptions for our own good? Over 4 billion prescriptions were written in 2011~of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. {Click {Read More}
How to Identify an Unknown Pill: Drugs.com Tutorial
19 March, 2013 by 4 Comments
A few posts ago I did a tutorial on drug interactions. As I said then, it’s so important for us, as patients, to take responsibility for our own health and educate ourselves so we are not so dependent on others. With the availability of the internet and some direction on which sites are reputable, there is TONS of FREE education right here at our fingertips. As I love to say, my go-to’s are God and Google. (Care to tweet that?) {Read More}
How to Find Your Own Drug Interactions: A Drugs.com Tutorial
25 February, 2013 by 2 Comments
Today I’m sharing a tutorial I posted on YouTube on drug interactions. As I’ve shared in my last few blog posts, drug interactions are becoming a huge problem due to the increasing number of prescriptions people take. Take a few minutes (it’s short, I promise) to watch the video and then practice with your own prescription medications to see if there are any problems taking them together. If you do find interactions, don’t panic, and don’t abruptly stop taking your {Read More}
Seven Reasons to Become Your Own Pharmacist…Well, Sort of…
22 February, 2013 by 10 Comments
Working in retail pharmacy for 21 years, I saw the following scenario way too many times. The circumstances and drugs were different, but the result was the same. The patient had been placed in danger due to the pitfalls that can occur when getting a prescription filled. And I’m talking about when the prescription is filled correctly from the first step to the last. These pitfalls go beyond the actual filling of the prescription. In the busy, prescription-hungry culture we {Read More}
Drug Interactions~What Your Pharmacist & Doctor Might Not Tell You
18 February, 2013 by 7 Comments
Have you ever thought about the number of prescriptions your pharmacy fills every day? The smaller, independent pharmacies are on the lower end of the scale, but it’s not uncommon for your corner CVS or Walgreens to fill 700-1500 prescriptions every day. The use of prescription drugs in the United States on the rise and the statistics are staggering. Check out what the Centers for Disease Control reported in 2010: Over the last 10 years, the percentage of Americans {Read More}
