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Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy at New Philadelphia has been awarded the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board Seal of Accreditation. It recognizes pharmacies that practice the highest standards of compounding and pharmacy services, and have demonstrated a commitment to quality in compounding – the customization of medication to meet an individual patient’s medical needs.
The New Philadelphia Medicine Shoppe pharmacy is only the second pharmacy in Ohio and the first Medicine Shoppe pharmacy to receive the recognition.
“Receiving the PCAB Accreditation is a monumental moment for our pharmacy,” said Bradley White, R.Ph., New Philadelphia Medicine Shoppe franchisee and pharmacist.
“In the 12 years of serving the New Philadelphia community, we have always maintained the highest of standards in our pharmacy services and are pleased our commitment is being recognized by such a prominent organization as the PCAB.”
October 13, 2007 Local Pharmacy First to Receive Honor
On Oct. 8, The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy at New Philadelphia earned the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board’s Seal of Accreditation – a new system of standards created by some of the leading organizations in the pharmacy profession. The Medicine Shoppe at New Philadelphia is the first Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in the nation to receive the honor, and only the second pharmacy in Ohio to receive it.
To earn PCAB Accreditation, The Medicine Shoppe had to complete an extensive application, document its written policies and provide an analysis of its quality procedures that was reviewed by the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board and some of the leading figures in the field of compounding. Next, the pharmacy opened its doors for an extensive on-site inspection led by compounding experts. Only when these stringent evaluations were completed did the Pharmacy Compounding Accreditation Board officially grant The Medicine Shoppe the PCAB Seal of Accreditation and the right to use the designation “PCAB Accredited™ compounding pharmacy.”
Compounded medications are prescriptions that are written by physicians, veterinarians and other legally authorized prescribers and prepared for an individual patient by a specially trained pharmacist. Examples of compounded prescriptions are:
– When a child needs a smaller dose of a medicine that is only commercially manufactured in adult-size doses.
– When a person cannot tolerate the inactive ingredients (such as gluten or sugar) in manufactured medicines.
– When a doctor believes a medicine is needed for his or her patient, but a manufacturer has discontinued the medicine for economic reasons.
The Medicine Shoppe has been serving New Philadelphia since 1994. Brad White R.Ph. has been manager since January 1997.
April 22, 2007
Medicine Shoppe pharmacies, including one at New Philadelphia with Pharmacist Brad White, have been awarded top honors for customer satisfaction among retail pharmacy chains by J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Retail Pharmacy Satisfaction Study.
It was conducted online in October and November 2006 among 6,543 consumers nationwide who filled a new prescription or refill in the three months prior to the survey. The study examined the experience of typical retail pharmacy customers by exploring factors such as convenience, the pharmacist and staff, availability of medication and information, layout and design of the store or Web site and competitiveness of pricing. Results show Medicine Shoppe customer satisfaction score as an 866 (out of 1000).
“This makes us not only the highest-scoring chain, but also the highest-scoring pharmacy across all factors: chain, supermarket, mass merchandisers and mail order,” said Terry Burnside, president. “Our pharmacists pride themselves on spending time counseling customers about their medications and their health concerns.”
On the move
Date: May 9, 2005
Brad White, R.Ph., of Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy at New Philadelphia, recently attended a four-day pharmacy compounding training course at Houston, Texas. Professional Compounding Centers of America hosted pharmacists and pharmacy technicians from the United States and Canada at its hands-on training class, which provided Accreditation Council for-Pharmacy Education continuing education credits. Compounding is the pharmacy method of custom-preparing medications to meet each prescriber’s and patient’s needs.
At PCCA’ s training course, White compounded a number of dosage forms including gels, lip balms, topicals and capsules. “Many patients are allergic to preservatives or dyes, or are sensitive to standard drug strengths,” White said. “With a physician’s prescription, a compounding pharmacist can change the strength of a medication, alter its form to make it easier for the patient to ingest, and add flavor to it to make it more palatable. “Preparing these customized medications allows compounding pharmacists to achieve their ultimate goal: to help the physician and patient achieve a more positive therapeutic outcome.” Headquartered at Houston since 1981, PCCA has more than 3,400 independent pharmacist members in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy at New Philadelphia is locally owned by Brad and Paul White, R.Ph., and offers a variety of services and equipment.
Readers can submit career news to Lee Morrison, T-R Business Editor, by e-mail to business@timesreporter.com.
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By RYAN KARP, T-R Staff Writer
Deciphering a doctor’s handwriting no longer may be a pharmacist’s biggest challenge. Prescription fraud is giving area pharmacists much more to consider.
Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court
had nine cases of prescription fraud filed in 2004. By comparison, only one case was filed in 2003 and four were filed in 2002. “It really seems our area has been hit hard lately,” said New Philadelphia Detective Capt. Michael Goodwin. The cases have involved forged or altered prescriptions. “We had a case where prescription pads had been stolen from the doctor’s office, and they didn’t know it,” Goodwin said. “We’ve had people calling in prescriptions and claiming they were a doctor’s office and getting their prescription filled that way.” Brad White, a pharmacist at The Medicine Shoppe on W. High Ave. at New Philadelphia, said those who commit this crime are caught easily. “(There are) a lot of systems out there to catch people, and the consequences are not good,” he said. Angela Keeton, a pharmacy technician in Twin City Pharmacy at Uhrichsville, said their pharmacists become familiar with doctors’ handwriting. “You get accustomed to how they write even if it’s sloppy and you can’t read it,” said Keeton. “If something looks out of the ordinary to us we call the doctor.” Keeton also noted that those who alter a prescription usually do it slightly, sometimes just by changing the number of refills allowed. White once caught someone altering a prescription by noticing the doctor’s signature was “different than it usually was, and I was able to catch it at a glance. “They try too hard to mimic things,” he said. “Or they’ll write one for a ridiculous quantity or write one for a doctor that’s out of town.” A common charge for people who commit prescription fraud is illegal processing of drug documents, a felony that carries a prison term.
Painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet are the most sought-after prescriptions. “They’re usually addictive drugs,” said Goodwin. “That’s why people do it.” Others are selling the pills illegally, he said. Goodwin described a recent case in which an area woman allegedly called from a Canton doctor’s office 19 times before being caught. The pharmacy became suspicious when the woman called in on a Wednesday, the day most doctors’ offices are closed. “I was really shocked that you could get away with calling in a fake prescription,” said Goodwin. He thinks the medical community should have more safeguards in place to prevent this, although he said area pharmacists do a good job of catching the fraud. A new network in Tuscarawas County may help. White said a hotline among all area pharmacists has been put in place so they can warn each other of suspicious activity.
White said most area pharmacies scan their prescriptions so they can compare them for inaccuracies.
“Every time we catch someone, we think (there are) so many better things you could be doing than abusing drugs,” he said. “Drugs are for sick people.”
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Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy at New Philadelphia recently installed pharmacy automation to increase patient safety and satisfaction. Since opening for business in 1985, the business has seen industry trends such as pharmacy staff shortages, a sharp increase in prescription volumes, increasing regulations and the resulting paperwork. These evolving challenges are forcing change in the pharmacy industry, and Medicine Shoppe is utilizing the benefits of pharmacy automation. An investment in pharmacy automation allows Medicine Shoppe to grow without additional staff, while ensuring patient safety and satisfaction.
The Medicine Shoppe recently installed McKesson APS automation and software including Baker Cells, Pharmacy 2000 workflow management system, Automated Will Call Prescription Storage and Retrieval System and the AccuSign electronic signature capture device. Baker Cells are the industry standard for rapid, accurate and reliable counting and dispensing; allowing a pharmacist to fill a prescriptions in seconds, regardless of count size. Pharmacy 2000 software creates a more efficient workflow in the pharmacy, cutting wait times and adding additional prescription verification features (bar code technology, prescription and drug image verification).
The automation helps Medicine Shoppe pharmacists to spend more time counseling and helping and less time filling and checking, according to Brad White, registered pharmacist and manager.
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For the fourth consecutive year, Medicine Shoppe Pharmacies have claimed top honors for overall customer satisfaction in the annual WilsonRx Pharmacy Survey. There is a Medicine Shoppe at New Philadelphia. Medicine Shoppe International Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cardinal Health, the leading provider of products and services supporting the health care industry. The survey, compiled each year by Wilson Health Information, America’s leading pharmacy satisfaction research firm, interviewed more than 17,000 pharmacy customers about perceptions and satisfaction levels with the 30 leading pharmacies in the United States. The 2004 WilsonRx survey ranked Medicine Shoppe Pharmacies number one in 18 unique claims such as the ability to speak with a pharmacist about questions or concerns, obtain information about medications and avoid side effects, get clear instructions and receive help with insurance problems.
Medicine Shoppe Pharmacies also ranked tops in satisfaction with their treatment in three specific areas – allergies, cough and cold symptoms and low back pain.
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By G. PATRICK KELLEY, Copley Ohio Newspapers
CANTON – New technology added to Paul White’s Medicine Shoppes may not speed up the process of filling a prescription, but it makes it safer for patients. White has been a pharmacist for 37 years, and in that time, the number of drugs has at least tripled, he said. Add an aging population, a larger population that gets better health care, and a line of products that are varied in use but similar in design, and a routine process assume a much larger error potential, White said. The computerized system just installed in the store at 2526 Tuscarawas St. W scans in the original prescription form from the doctor, and that’s available every step of the way, for technicians and the pharmacist to check. Another aspect of the system is that technicians are shown a photo of the front and back of the medication for visual identification. Everyone involved in the process has a personal bar code that is scanned when their work is completed on the touch-screen terminals. The system also prints out a label for each bottle of pills. The computerization doesn’t speed the process, White said. The system has been installed in his New Philadelphia and Louisville stores, and after a year at New Philadelphia, that store is just getting back to its former speed.
Another helpful aspect is a bank of dispensers for the store’s top 100 medications. The system – accused from McKesson Automated Prescription Systems - takes computerized orders and counts out the most often ordered drugs at the store. The top 100 in any store usually is about 50 percent of the store’s prescription business, White said. “Is it going to replace people? Not likely,” White said. While the system adds five to 15 checks to each prescription, it still requires technicians to run the process, and a pharmacist must complete every order. The commitment is about $160,000 per store, and federal tax incentives on business investment have helped, he said. It’s still to be decided if the Minerva store will receive the system. “It depends on the volume,” White said. “You’ve got to be able to justify the expense.” White said he wanted to install the system in preparation for an increase in business, which he believes will come in 2006, when a federal prescription plan for seniors goes into effect.
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Wednesday, February 23, 2005
So far, say public health officials, flu in Ohio remains under control. The Ohio Department of Health has only five laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza, all in the Cincinnati area. Local health officials have privately cautioned health-care institutions to keep visitors with flu-like symptoms away from patients. But no public health alert is out, said Rose Ann Warth, nursing director of the Canton City Health Department. William Franks, Stark County Health Department commissioner, concurred. A shortage of flu vaccine led health officials nationwide in the fall to restrict vaccine to those at high risk, primarily older people, medical personnel or those with health problems. The restrictions were eased late last year.
North Canton Medical Foundation is offering some 250 doses of free flu mist to healthy people ages 5 to 49. The fountain’s flu clinic, administered by Debbie Nelson, is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until the supply is gone. “We realize a lot of people didn’t get their vaccine, and this is all we have to offer,” Nelson said. A committee decided to offer the mists beginning Monday “instead of seeing these doses go to waste.” At Marc’s in Perry Township, Linda Gerber was scanning the shelves for some type of long-acting cold medication. “It is a cold, just the runny nose, sniffles. Believe me, I know the difference” between colds and flu, she said.
Tuscarawas Street W, pharmacist Mark Giangardella said he’s seen “a little bit” of business in over-the-counter cold and flu medicines recently “but nothing overwhelming.”
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Tuesday, October 12, 2004
By DIANA ROSSETTI Living Section writer
Veteran pharmacist and businessman Paul White was far from speechless. Incredulous, yes. Agitated, indeed. Speechless, no. “Here we are, the most technologically, medically advanced country in the world and we can’t make a damn vial of flu vaccine. We can do bypass surgery, but we can’t produce a flu vaccine. What is this about?” White, the owner of four Medicine Shoppes locally, said the influenza vaccine he ordered for his clinics was to come from the British manufacturer whose production facility was closed down last week. Initially, he had ordered 2,000 doses, relying on notifications that there would be plenty of vaccine available for follow-up orders. “I was reading an article on the plane coming back from a conference over the weekend, and it said the supermarket chains, who placed their large orders initially with the company that’s still making it, and the VA and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) got their vaccine because they have high priority, but a high percentage of doctors don’t have any flu vaccine. This is almost amusing that you can get a flu shot at a big supermarket but none from doctors,” White said. It is true, said internist Michael H. Linz of Astute Medical Associates. His office’s order has been placed on a waiting list. Even if vaccine becomes available, Linz expects the quantity to be greatly reduced. “You have to order your allotment of flu vaccine and pay for it about February. We ordered somewhere between 600 and 700 doses because we have a significant patient population who are over 65 or with chronic illness,” said Linz, who said all such patients are encouraged to have a yearly flu immunization. “Our allotment was supposed to be shipped this week, and last week, we were notified from our vendor that we wouldn’t be getting any of our allocation.” Patients turned away at physicians’ offices will dip into the county and city health departments’ vaccine allocations, he added. “I find it unfathomable that the U.S. can’t put a better system into place that we can guarantee that all people get flu shots. Essentially, there are only two manufacturers in the world. Last year was fairly mild,” he said. “From what I’ve read, the prediction is we should be gearing up for a fairly significant flu season. This is one little thing, but the implications on what this does to the cost of health care in the U.S., it’s huge. How many patients are going to end up with pneumonia or need other types of antibiotics? How many will be hospitalized or miss work? The implications are exponential.”
By contrast, the vaccine is ready to go at area Giant Eagle supermarkets. Pharmacist Jeff Ford of the “You have to meet the guidelines,” Ford said firmly, in response to a question about who could get the vaccination. Telephone traffic has “been brisk,” he added, with callers inquiring about the availability of the vaccine, which will cost $20. Traditionally, the Timken Co. has offered flu shots to its active associates, but this year’s program has been put on hold, said public relations manager Jason Saragian. In previous years, Aultcare, a large local health-care provider, offered on-site flu-shot clinics at the request of some businesses whose employees it covered. Those clinics, too, have been canceled because of the vaccine shortage. Speaking on behalf of Aultcare, Jodi Knapik, corporate communications specialist at Aultman Hospital, said, “We have no scheduled clinics because we are on a waiting list for those flu vaccines, and if and when we receive those vaccines, we’ll follow the published CDC guidelines on distributing them.”
Washington Square store said his clinic will be Oct. 21 from 3 to 7 p.m.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2004
By G. PATRICK KELLEY Repository business editor
SECURITY TAG. Pharmacist Mark Giangardella wears a bar code on the back of his hand that identifies him to the Medicine Shoppe’s computerized pharmacy system. Everyone involved in processing prescription orders has a personal bar code that must be scanned into the system.
CANTON — New technology added to Paul White’s Medicine Shoppes may not speed up the process of filling a prescription, but it makes it safer for patients. White has been a pharmacist for 37 years, and in that time, the number of drugs has at least tripled, he said. Add an aging population, a larger population that gets better health care, and a line of products that are varied in use but similar in design, and a routine process assumes a much larger error potential, White said. The computerized system just installed in the store at 2526 Tuscarawas St. W scans in the original prescription form from the doctor, and that’s available every step of the way, for technicians and the pharmacist to check.
Another aspect of the system is that technicians are shown a photo of the front and back of the medication for visual identification. Everyone involved in the process has a personal bar code that is scanned when their work is completed on the touch-screen terminals. The system also prints out a label for each bottle of pills. The computerization doesn’t speed the process, White said. The system has been installed in his New Philadelphia and Louisville stores, and after a year at New Philadelphia, that store is just getting back to its former speed.
Another helpful aspect is a bank of dispensers for the store’s top 100 medications. The system — acquired from McKesson Automated Prescription Systems — takes computerized orders and counts out the most-often-ordered drugs at the store. The top 100 in any store usually is about 50 percent of the store’s prescription business, White said. “Is it going to replace people? Not likely,” White said. Although the system adds five to 15 checks to each prescription, it still requires technicians to run the process, and a pharmacist must complete every order.
The commitment is about $160,000 per store, and federal tax incentives on business investment have helped, he said.
It’s still to be decided if the Minerva store will receive the system. “It depends on the volume,” White said. “You’ve got to be able to justify the expense.”
White said he wanted to install the system in preparation for an increase in business, which he believes will come in 2006, when a federal prescription plan for seniors goes into effect.
Repository / Bob Rossiter PROOF OF PURCHASE. Shannon Marchand fills a prescription at the Canton Medicine Shoppe. She knows she has the right product because the computer screen is showing her a photo of the front and back to the production she’s dispensing.
Repository / Bob Rossiter HIGH-TECH PILLS. Paul White stands in the pharmacy at his Medicine Shoppe at 2526 Tuscarawas St. W. Behind him is a bank of dispensers for the top 100 drugs ordered at the store. White said the top 100 usually constitutes about 50 percent of a store’s business.
You can reach Repository Business Editor G. Patrick Kelley at (330) 580-8323 or e-mail:
pat.kelley@cantonrep.com
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Sunday, April 13, 2003
By DIANA ROSSETTI
It all began with a one-page press release. A young Jackson Township native had opened a storefront in Perry Township promoting discounted Canadian prescription medications. Granted, he was not alone. In fact, the owner of a similar business in Akron called to complain about not being included in the story that appeared Tuesday. That Akron is not part of The Repository’s target circulation area did not seem to register with her. But many of her customers come from Stark County, she argued. Apparently one of her Stark County customers decided to take up the battle herself. The voicemail she left used the vulgar street euphemism for procuring several times in her deconstruction of the story.
Then there was another side. My voicemail was full by early Wednesday morning. A woman called from Arizona seeking more information for a relative here. Another whose mother is in a nursing home and draining her life savings paying full price for her prescriptions deemed the story “a community service.” Scores of others, most of them retirees, many in their 80s with spouses who are ill, called just to talk. Staying alive, they said in a dozen different ways, is a daily struggle. Life itself has lost its joy. “I go begging,” one man said of regular stops at his doctor’s office in hopes of getting free samples of the cholesterol-lowering medication he needs. Then the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy’s executive director weighed in, advising with no hesitation that bringing prescription drugs from Canada is illegal, whether it be via the mails or a charter tour bus. Never mind that an elected official in Vermont and Lorain’s own U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown likely had won senior votes renting buses for them to ride in to Canada. The Akron businesswoman was quick to point out those actions. Many callers had done their reading. After all is said and done, the discounted Canadian drugs are subsidized by Americans who pay full price. The Medicine Shoppe chain owner Paul White concurs. Canada, he explained, has a “fixed closed formulary.” “That means they set price guidelines on all the drugs. So when the American manufacturers tell them, ‘We’re going to charge you guys $20 for this,’ they tell them, ‘No, you’re not. Not unless it’s two bucks.’ Here they are in the U.S. doing all the research and development down here. But don’t get me wrong. They make a hell of a lot of money, 16 percent net profit on average. But if they want in the Canadian market, they have to charge less. Someone is going to pay the difference,” White said. “So where do you go with this thing. We have the finest, most screwed-up health-care system in the world. We can take a tank out under a bridge in Iraq and not touch the bridge but Monday morning, we start with the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) fliers.”
HIPAA is the new federal law intended to provide consumers with personal privacy protections. It does this by charging all health providers who file claims electronically to inform patients of their medical records privacy rights and to designate a privacy officer to address patients’ questions. As an aside, representatives of the Perry Township Canadian prescription business attempted to distribute fliers at the Senior Expo on Wednesday and Thursday at Canton Memorial Civic Center. Because they had not rented booth space in the event, they were asked to leave. The next day, they were back, this time outside the building handing out fliers and brandishing a city permit. However, the permit only covered door-to-door solicitations and they again were asked to move off city property.
OMNIUM-GATHERUMS. North Canton’s Laurie Horn already was cranked up about running in her seventh Boston Marathon on April 21. But the excitement level escalated recently when Horn, who works at Runner’s Supply in Canton, was filling in at the company’s Akron store. Three runners, all men, came in for a water stop after a long run. Horn was thrilled when she realized one of her visitors was Bill Rogers, the country’s most famous marathoner and four-time winner of the Boston Marathon. Rogers was in Akron trying out the course for a new marathon to be held in October.
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Sunday, January 12, 2003
By Diana Rossetti Repository staff writer
Overheard in the weekday lunch line at Panera Bread across from the mall last week: A man and woman with some obvious knowledge discussing plans to expand Westfield Shoppingtown Belden Village, possibly adding a second story. There was mention of a Ruby Tuesday’s making its home there along with some upscale restaurants. But on Friday, mall manager Kurt Reddick said, “Westfield purchases malls with an eye on redeveloping those properties. At this point, there are no concrete plans for redeveloping Belden Village.”
The December issue of Auto Week magazine ran a full-page feature on Glenmoor Country Club general manager Myron Vernis’ passion for classic cars, primarily Porsches. The love affair began with his first, an E-Type, acquired when he was in college. Now, of the estimated 12 Porsche 597s in existence, Vernis owns three. The annual Vernis family Christmas card features a car from his collection. This year’s also included one of his seven Porsche tractors.
His collection, which includes Porsche industrial equipment, several Speedsters and the first 911 Cabriolet prototype from 1964, was built not by following the crowd but from decisions made through research and instinct. Even daughters Zoe and Allie have bonded closer to their dad while locating and transporting home old 356s. Vernis, whose wife, Kim, tools around town in a Nash Metropolitan, said he knew she was the one when, on their first date, she “mastered driving a nonsynchro ’51 Porsche.” Soon after national radio personality Paul Harvey completed his broadcast Wednesday, avid listeners began calling The Repository. In a story that Harvey prefaced by saying, “May I have your undivided attention on this?” he retold the story of a Gahanna woman whose failing heart took a decided turn for the better, a change doctors could not explain.
Repository bureau chief Bob Russ recapped the wire story in his Sunday column as a segue into asking readers if they believed in miracles. But Harvey took a little license with the facts, indicating that a Rep reporter had interviewed the Ohio State physician who had cared for the female patient. Former Harter Heights resident Kelly Wearstler landed in The New York Times recently, in a feature about her burgeoning interior design career in Los Angeles. A September Boldface item mentioned Wearstler’s appearance in Vogue and W magazines. She is the daughter of Terry Wearstler and Nancy Dowling Wearstler, who has since remarried. Grandmother Rita Dowling still lives here. As recently as nine years ago, the article pointed out, Kelly Wearstler, a onetime Playboy centerfold model, was working as a waitress in a Beverly Hills steakhouse. Today, her new book, “Unexpected Style,” is ready for distribution. Now in her early 30s, Wearstler is married to the owner of four of Southern California’s most chic boutique hotels.
OMNIUM-GATHERUMS. Could it be? Now locals are entertaining the possibility that the popular Romano’s Macaroni Grill chain restaurant may take up residence in the recently closed Mountain Jack’s restaurant at the entrance to Westfield Shoppingtown Belden Village ... By now, the Fiesta Bowl outcome is old good news, but those who gathered a week ago Friday night to watch it on a big-screen television at Zion United Church of Christ in North Canton had more than winning and losing in mind. Bob and Barb Steinbauer were hoping for a large turnout for hot dogs, corn chips and camaraderie. The $15 ticket price went to help church member Jim Dahler pay the bills that have mounted since before he received a kidney transplant from a cousin in mid-December. When he’s healthy, Dahler serves as the church’s sound technician. Those who missed the party and want to donate can send checks to the church at 415 S. Main St., North Canton, 44720, specifying its recipient ... Paul White’s new Medicine Shoppe store replacing the old one in New Philadelphia opened Dec. 2. Son Brad, also a pharmacist, manages the new facility, four times the size of the original. White is planning a remodel this year of the Canton and Minerva stores, adding robotics to free pharmacists for more interaction with customers. ... Look for Auntie Anne’s, the chain famous for its rich, butter-dipped hot pretzels, to open its kiosk in Westfield Shoppingtown Belden Village sometime in March.
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Tuesday, January 7, 2003
By DIANA ROSSETTI Living Section writer
Your parents warned you about danger, provided practical advice; in short, taught you much of what you know. But what they don’t know could kill them. Seniors currently face a growing epidemic with potentially deadly implications, an epidemic that can be eliminated through education and interaction with health professionals. Many older patients may not realize, for example, that simultaneously taking over-the-counter ibuprofen and a blood thinner, like commonly prescribed Coumadin, can cause stomach bleeding. Even diet can have an effect on the efficacy of drugs, warned Frank Reale, Mercy Professional Pharmacy manager.
“Luckily, the hospital pharmacy here has a Coumadin clinic. If doctors refer patients here, they complete a medication history, profile, do some blood work, and counsel patients. They’ll recommend that patients on blood thinners get at least two servings of dark green leafy vegetables a week. They’re a high source of vitamin K,” he explained.
Excessive amounts of canola oil, he added, also may affect the drug’s effectiveness. “You’ll find that in fast food but you’d have to eat an awful lot of it,” Reale added. Others may not realize that everyday antacids block the absorption of most medications, thus canceling out their effectiveness. Reale said that seniors frequently request his recommendations for over-the-counter medications such as decongestants. “I ask right away what other medications or over-the-counter drugs they take. If they’re on blood pressure medication, then they need to know that over-the-counter decongestants can spike blood pressure,” he said. “Their physician should be the first stop. Then come see us.” Candid conversations with personal physicians are vital. In years past, the doctor took the lead. Today, patients are enlisted to participate in their health care. A patient’s honesty may mean the difference between life and death. If he admits forgetfulness, measures can be taken to make sure medications are taken at the right time and in the correct doses. “Sometimes, you get the children involved. Perhaps they could fill up one of the plastic medication containers that are broken down by days and time of day. That way, the patient knows if he’s up to date,” said Reale. “And some pharmacies in the area will prepack meds by the day for patients.”
The inexpensive, plastic, compartmentalized pill containers work well for one busy local professional whose elderly father lives alone in rural southeast Ohio. “I see my dad once a week on Saturdays,” said Canton’s Susan Lee, who tutors adults. “He’s on heart medications, vitamins for his eyes, the low-dose aspirin and some others. I need to make sure that, one, he gets the right pills at the right time of day, and, two, that he doesn’t forget. Even then, I call him once a day and ask him to check the container to see where he is on pills.” For their safety, elderly patients should choose one pharmacy where all their prescriptions will be filled, urged Paul White, pharmacist at and owner of The Medicine Shoppe pharmacies. “Especially if they are on a lot of maintenance medication. Everybody has a sophisticated computer nowadays and we can mesh all these drugs. That doesn’t happen when you go store to store,” White warned. He acknowledged that remembering to take medication when indicated is not a problem exclusive to seniors. “You’ll wonder, gosh, I can’t remember if I took my blood pressure pill or not. One of the key issues is making sure the patient takes the medicine as it’s supposed to be taken. Organize your medicine in such a way that you take it at the same time every day,” he explained.
Some pharmacies, including The Medicine Shoppe, offer a unit-dose packaging system that streamlines the process. For a service fee, the pharmacist can package up to five medications per day in punch-out cards. Whether it is caused by fixed incomes or memories of the Great Depression, White added, senior citizens often “trade” medications. “I just think they’ve really lost respect for medication. They take this for blood glucose or cholesterol,” he said. “We even catch them, once in a while in the store, trading. One will say, ‘My blood pressure pills aren’t working for me. I’ve got to try something else.’ And the lady beside her will say, ‘Why don’t you try some of mine?’ It’s really gotten out of hand and it’s dangerous,” he said. By the numbers Harvard Medical School researchers estimate pharmacists dispensed more than 1.5 billion prescriptions nationwide last year. Many of those were for senior citizens. The latest statistics reveal the average older adult takes seven medications daily, including over-the-counter products. They fill an average of 18 prescriptions a year. Nearly one in five hospitalizations of people age 65 or older is due to adverse drug reactions, while more than 51,000 deaths of older adults occur annually due to the reactions.
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The health of senior citizens is tied closely to their ability to effectively communicate with their doctors and pharmacists. So crucial is this give and take that the National Institute on Aging (NIA) has produced a booklet, “Talking with your Doctor: A Guide for Older People.” The booklet stresses developing a partnership with physicians and pharmacists, working together to solve medical problems and maintain the patient’s good health.
The 30-page booklet is free. To obtain one, call (800) 222-2225 weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The NIA is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health.
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Tuesday, August 14, 2001
By Diana Rossetti Repository Living section writer
Calls apparently are flooding into Bayer Pharmaceutical company concerning the health questions about its cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol. First Bayer Pharmaceutical directed those with questions about Baycol being withdrawn from the market Wednesday to call (800) 758-9794 for more information. A recording at that number explained that another telephone line had been added due to heavy calling. Callers were directed to (877) 921-1313. The recording at that number directed patients with prescriptions for Baycol to contact their personal physicians for further instructions. Physicians or patients with more questions were given yet another toll-free number to call — (877) 227-3395.
The recorded message received at that number was “Due to extraordinary high call volume, all of our representatives are currently serving other callers. Please call at another time. Thank you.” Disconnect. The toll-free line provided by the Food and Drug Administration — (888) INFO-FDA — forced callers through a maze of voice-mail options until a human voice answered after four menu choices were made by pressing numbers on the telephone key pad. When asked by a reporter what consumers should do with leftover Baycol and whether they would receive refunds for unused medication, the phone attendant responded, “Contact your druggist.” “Your druggist?” the reporter questions. “All the other toll-free lines told me nothing except to contact my physician.” “Well,” she said, “That’s what we’ve been told to tell callers, your druggist or the Bayer Co.”
Pharmacist Jeff Kistler, reached at the Louisville Medicine Shoppe, said customers are doing just that. “Nothing has been officially relayed to us in terms of proper channels. It’s a wait-and-see kind of thing; I would suspect they would be able to bring back the product at the retail pharmacy where they purchased it at some point,” Kistler said.
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Demolition man
Ed Daugherty of R.A. Watson Excavating of New Philadelphia tears down the old Medicine Shoppe building on W. High Ave. at New Philadelphia Monday. The space will be used for parking for the business’ new building, constructed behind the old one.
The Medicine Shoppe in New Philadelphia
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