Viewpoints

Pharmacists dealing with Rxs for controlled substances have their lists of red flags and greens flags. Are they now showing the white flag, as well?

For newly fledged pharmacists, a few solid tips on how to honor your patients, your profession, and yourselves.

Written by a pharmacist who has endured through thick and through thin, these 10 tips remind pharmacy professionals that they have plenty to take pride in.

Electronic prescribing of controlled substances isn't much of an improvement over previous practice.

Some families run to redheads. Some families witness a series of multiple births over a couple of generations. But a flock of pharmacists? Would that be nature, nurture, or morphic resonance?

Kim Ankenbruck has a knack for expressing what many of her fellow pharmacists are thinking. Here, she tackles the question of how to practice integrity in an environment designed to punish the attempt.

If it’s a positive return on investment you seek, look no further than your local free medical clinic.

Electronic prescribing was supposed to be the savior of pharmacy. Things haven’t quite worked out that way.

Patients must be taught what their meds mean and why they're taking them. That's a job for the pharmacist.

Provider status, access to patient health information, more inclusion on the healthcare team, and recognition as patient-care professionals - progress in the pharmacy profession is taking place. Will you take the ball and run with it?

Pharmacists need to believe in the basic skills that were once taught. We need to practice pharmacy in the traditional sense.

Some healthcare professionals have to make “professional discretion” decisions based on the patient’s subjective opinion. Pharmacists need to be objective about subjective pain that patients express.

Every time pharmacists consult a patient about a prescription they need to address the safety of its use and proper disposal.

E-prescribing was supposed to reduce prescription errors by eliminating the problem of illegible Rxs. The result? Nowadays prescriptions are easier to read - and just as full of errors.

From reader Bill Tarr comes the second article in Drug Topics' new series, Pathways through Pharmacy. While the first signs of his professional direction may have come as something of a surprise, he rose to the challenge and found that it gave him a vehicle for the good life.

Physician Assistants. Nurse Practitioners. Nurse Clinicians. Nurse Anesthetists. Need we say more?

Cannabis extracts show strong potential for treatment of various medical conditions. The same cannot be said about smoked marijuana. Here are a few of the reasons.

The most powerful drug in your pharmacy is not what you may think.

With this article, a group project from reader Pete Kreckel, Rph, and his wife, daughter, and son-in-law, Drug Topics launches a new series that will present your stories: how you came to pharmacy, how your path unfolded, and where it led you. Our goal is to show new pharmacists how many choices and opportunities appear to those whose minds are open to new possibilities. Here's your chance to share what you have learned through your life in pharmacy! Send your contributions to drugtopics@advanstar.com today.

Now more than ever, action by Congress and CMS is needed to alleviate beneficiaries' concerns about access to pharmacies of their choice.

Letters, e-mails, comments, and posts from Drug Topics readers

Hours after we posted Kim Ankenbruck's “A dose of pharmacy truth: Report from the front lines,” the responses started showing up. Here's a collection of the early returns.

Kim Ankenbruck's first blog post, "Who will stand up for pharmacy?," got her an avalanche of e-mail. We asked her for an update, and she sent in a real doozy.

There is no testimony without tests. How are we handling ours?

How does it feel to have your brainchild critiqued by an audience of your peers? Dennis Miller gives us an idea.

By maintaining a strong knowledge base about HCV infection and management, pharmacists can be a resource to providers and patients alike.

Things aren't as simple as the DEA would have us believe.

Contributor Steve Ariens takes another run at the question of how to deal with prescriptions for controlled substances.

When patients present valid prescriptions for controlled medications and pharmacists refuse to dispense, the patients have options. And the ADA is just the beginning.

Remember Goose Rawlings’ story in the February issue of Drug Topics, the one about the young pharm school graduate who thought older pharmacists should step aside and leave their jobs to new PharmDs? Boy, did we get mail.