Pharmacists: Your Medication Experts

12/07/2017

16/05/2017

What is Pharmacy?
Pharmacy is the science and technique of preparing and dispensing drugs. It is a health profession that links health sciences with chemical sciences and aims to ensure the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs.
Pharmacists, therefore, are the experts on drug therapy and are the primary health professionals who optimize use of medication for the benefit of the patients.
The methods they use vary from one practice setting to the next, but general pharmacist responsibilities include:

- Dispensing medications, assuring the safety and appropriateness of the prescribed therapy
- Monitoring patient health and progress to achieve the best medication results
- Partnering with consumers and patients to provide education and advice on the use of prescription and over-the-counter medications
- Collaborating with physicians, nurses, and other members of the health care team to provide expertise on drug decisions and improve patient outcomes
- Providing knowledge about the composition of drugs based upon their chemical, biological, and physical properties, as well as their manufacture and use

04/05/2017

EBOLA VIRUS VACCINE IS FINALLY AVAILABLE!!!

WHO chief praises Guineans for help with Ebola vaccine

The head of the World Health Organization praised Guineans on Thursday for their role in helping to develop a vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus, as Guinea’s president said he hoped the vaccine eventually could be produced in Africa.

During a visit to the country where the deadliest Ebola epidemic ever first emerged, Dr. Margaret Chan met with health workers who were critical in the fight against the virus. More than 11,300 people died across West Africa before the outbreak was finally declared over last year.

Chan said Guineans had “fought back” by taking part in the vaccine trials despite the widespread fear of international health workers that was prevalent during the Ebola crisis. With no specific drugs approved to treat Ebola, patients could only be isolated and the death rate was high.

While the vaccine can only protect against contracting the disease and can’t treat it, health officials have praised the vaccine’s development as a major milestone.

WHO has said some 300,000 doses of the vaccine initially will be made available in case of another outbreak.

Guinean President Alpha Conde said he wants the vaccine and others like it to be produced in Africa.

“We want this process to lead to the local production of drugs and vaccines in Africa,” he said at the event.

The Ebola virus first turned up on the continent in 1976 and had caused periodic outbreaks mostly in central Africa before the West Africa epidemic began in 2013. Previous attempts at a vaccine failed, in part due to the sporadic nature of outbreaks and funding shortages.

The West African epidemic allowed researchers to test the vaccine’s efficacy on about 5,800 people, all of whom had some contact with an Ebola patient. The vaccine, which contains no live virus, proved so effective that the study was stopped midway so that everyone exposed to Ebola in Guinea could be immunized.

Researchers still need further study about the vaccine’s safety for children.

WHO, which has acknowledged shortcomings in its response to the Ebola outbreak, led the study of the vaccine. The vaccine was developed by the Canadian government and is now licensed to the U.S.-based Merck & Co. Merck is expected to seek regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe sometime next year.

Chan said the efforts to create an Ebola vaccine in months, not years, created a “spillover effect” that will help speed up the development of other vaccines. A new coalition is putting together a system to help ensure “that price is not a barrier to access for populations most in need,” she said.

04/05/2017

WHO chief praises Guineans for help with Ebola vaccine

The head of the World Health Organization praised Guineans on Thursday for their role in helping to develop a vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus, as Guinea’s president said he hoped the vaccine eventually could be produced in Africa.

During a visit to the country where the deadliest Ebola epidemic ever first emerged, Dr. Margaret Chan met with health workers who were critical in the fight against the virus. More than 11,300 people died across West Africa before the outbreak was finally declared over last year.

Chan said Guineans had “fought back” by taking part in the vaccine trials despite the widespread fear of international health workers that was prevalent during the Ebola crisis. With no specific drugs approved to treat Ebola, patients could only be isolated and the death rate was high.

While the vaccine can only protect against contracting the disease and can’t treat it, health officials have praised the vaccine’s development as a major milestone.

WHO has said some 300,000 doses of the vaccine initially will be made available in case of another outbreak.

Guinean President Alpha Conde said he wants the vaccine and others like it to be produced in Africa.

“We want this process to lead to the local production of drugs and vaccines in Africa,” he said at the event.

The Ebola virus first turned up on the continent in 1976 and had caused periodic outbreaks mostly in central Africa before the West Africa epidemic began in 2013. Previous attempts at a vaccine failed, in part due to the sporadic nature of outbreaks and funding shortages.

The West African epidemic allowed researchers to test the vaccine’s efficacy on about 5,800 people, all of whom had some contact with an Ebola patient. The vaccine, which contains no live virus, proved so effective that the study was stopped midway so that everyone exposed to Ebola in Guinea could be immunized.

Researchers still need further study about the vaccine’s safety for children.

WHO, which has acknowledged shortcomings in its response to the Ebola outbreak, led the study of the vaccine. The vaccine was developed by the Canadian government and is now licensed to the U.S.-based Merck & Co. Merck is expected to seek regulatory approval in the U.S. and Europe sometime next year.

Chan said the efforts to create an Ebola vaccine in months, not years, created a “spillover effect” that will help speed up the development of other vaccines. A new coalition is putting together a system to help ensure “that price is not a barrier to access for populations most in need,” she said.

31/03/2017

Our goal is to provide you and your family with exceptional medication related information in a friendly and professional manner.

19/02/2017

Medication Safety in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Medication Safety in Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

If you are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, talk with your doctor or pharmacist about any medications you are taking or thinking about taking. This includes prescription and over-the-counter medications, as well as dietary or herbal products.

Some medicines are safe to take during pregnancy while other medicines may have adverse effects on the unborn baby. It is very important to check each and every medicine, including over-the-counter medicines and natural supplements, to determine if they are safe to take while pregnant. This is especially important during the first trimester of pregnancy (0-13 weeks), a critical time for development of the embyro and fetus.

Medicines can also pass into breast milk in small quantities. While most are safe for a mother to take and will not cause any harm to a breastfeeding infant, some medicines such as cytotoxic agents, lithium, radiopharmaceuticals, and retinoids must be avoided.

Always consult your doctor, pharmacist or healthcare specialist for medical advice in relation to drug use while pregnant or lactating/breastfeeding.

30/01/2017

27/08/2016

11/07/2016

Medication therapy management (MTM) is medical care provided by pharmacists whose aim is to optimize drug therapy and improve therapeutic outcomes for patients.

Our Medication Therapy Management program at The Pharmacy Counter is one-on-one personalized counseling on how to best manage your medications. We work with ...

07/07/2016

Medication Safety: Medication errors caused by confusion of drug names.

Improving communication and instituting double-checking protocols can catch a host of medication errors.
Many drug names can look or sound like other drug names, which leads to confusion and potentially harmful medication errors.
Cerebyx (Fosphenytoin) versus Celebrex ( decelecoxib) versus Celexa (citalopram). The first drug is used to treat seizures, the second to relieve pain and inflammation, and the final one to treat depression. Vastly different applications, shockingly similar brand (proprietary) names. With a slip-up on a written prescription or a misinterpretation at the pharmacy, a patient may be taking something that is not needed and potentially harmful.

Health care practitioners are all too familiar with this scenario. According to the Institute of Medicine’s July 2006 report Preventing Medication Errors, medication errors harm an estimated 1.5 million people in the United States each year, resulting in upward of $3.5 billion in extra medical costs. Put into even more personal terms, every hospital patient may be subjected to as much as one medication error each day. These are shocking statistics for a largely preventable problem.

The take-away message for all health leaders is this: Enhanced communication between providers, patients and pharmacists is critical to reducing the likelihood of medication errors. Communication among those health care professionals responsible for prescribing, administering, preparing and dispensing, or monitoring medication is critical to optimizing treatment. Leaders must inspire teamwork and open communication. Understanding the value of communication pertaining to the use of medications and fostering an environment that supports excellent communication can decrease the incidence of medication errors and resulting harm to the patient.

29/06/2016

Mixing two Common Drugs May Be Deadly for Diabetics.

Pharmacists should keep an eye out for patients with diabetes taking pravastatin and paroxetine concomitantly, as this medication combination could be deadly.
Although pharmacists are already aware of common drug-drug interactions such as warfarin/diflunisal and methotrexate/probenecid, studies have shown that only 67% of serious drug interactions spark a correct warning from a pharmacy computer system with such alerts. Discovering drug interactions is difficult partly because large clinical trials are often primarily focused on establishing the effects of a single drug. In many cases, the study cohort is too small to observe potential side effects of a medication in certain populations.
In general, pharmacists should be proactive when it comes to potential medication interactions.