Pharming Parties

     Pharming parties or “pharm parties” has been a term recently introduced to me.  Prior to pharmacy school I had no idea pharming parties even existed.  Some of you may be wondering what exactly a pharming party is.  I found an article titled “Youth Trade Drugs at Pharming Parties” on the drugfree.org website which did a good job defining a pharming party.  According to this site, “Prescribed Ritalin, OxyContin stolen from medicine cabinets at home, and other psychoactive prescription drugs are the stock in trade at so-called “pharming parties,” where young people trade medicines and often mix pills with alcohol to get high.” To be honest, when I first heard about the concept of a pharming party, I did not really believe these acts occurred on a regular basis.  I attended public schools and universities all through out my education, and have never experienced or even heard of the term pharming party.  For that reason, it was hard for me to believe that our youth are doing this today.  Unfortunately, I was proven wrong and became aware that this is in fact a growing problem in our society that is plaguing our youth and community members. 

     The Generation Rx program has heightened my knowledge and awareness of pharming parties, and the dangers associated with unnecessarily and irresponsibly taking prescription medications.  During a pharming party any unused or stolen prescription medications attained are thrown into a large bowl.  Guests then grab a handful of the medications and ingest them all at one time.  The scary part is sometimes guests are unaware of what exactly they have taken, perhaps unknowingly creating lethal combinations.  Reasons to why people take part in pharming parties include the fact that prescription medications are much easier to obtain compared to illegal drugs; and the myth that prescription medications, even when abused, are safer than illegal drugs. 

     So what can we do to combat this growing problem of pharming parties?  First we must raise awareness of this growing epidemic, then educate the community of the serious risks involved with these irresponsible actions.  Generation Rx is an organization that has been doing just that, but on a smaller scale by visiting local schools.  However, I feel that more awareness and education about pharming parties needs to be made.  For example, if content on pharming parties were incorporated into the D.A.R.E program curriculum, greater awareness will reach more students.

-http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/drugs/youth-trade-drugs-at-pharming

What Does My Pharmacist Actually Do?

     While talking to my seven year old niece recently, she asked me a very simple question "What does a pharmacist do?"  I actually have never been asked that question before and was definitely not prepared to answer.  I know that sounds strange coming from a future pharmacist but it is the truth; the fact of the matter is there is not a simple answer to that question.  Pharmacists are found in clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, research labs, poison control centers, government  agencies, pharmaceutical companies, nuclear settings, and in academia.  What makes this answer complex is that the pharmacist's roles in these capacities differ greatly.  I told my niece a much simpler answer, of course, and then showed her a YouTube video that emphasized pharmacists’ goal of improving health and well-being of their patients.

     This question still resonated with me; it became a personal pursuit of knowledge to obtain a more comprehensive look into the various roles of a pharmacist.  As I searched online, I came across a definition of a pharmacist that I felt captured the many roles encompassing this career.  It was a role description by PharmCAS that stated:

 “Pharmacist responsibilities include a range of care for patients, from dispensing medications to monitoring patient health and progress to maximize their response to the medication. Pharmacists also educate consumers and patients on the use of prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, and advise physicians, nurses, and other health professionals on drug decisions. Pharmacists also provide expertise about the composition of drugs, including their chemical, biological, and physical properties and their manufacture and use. They ensure drug purity and strength and make sure that drugs do not interact in a harmful way. Pharmacists are drug experts ultimately concerned about their patients' health and wellness.” 
     Although a long definition, I felt it was the perfect description.  However, something was missing, it did not capture the most meaningful role a pharmacist has.   I have always understood the unique position pharmacists hold because of how accessible they are throughout the community.  Pharmacists directly bridge the gap between the community and health care.  Thus, pharmacists are essential health care providers advocating on their patients behalf, to promote the best quality of life.

- http://www.pharmcas.org/advisors/roleofpharmacist.htm         

The American Pharmacists Association

     The American Pharmacist Association (APhA), founded in 1852, has been an amazing organization to be a part of.  It has provided me with opportunities to improve my knowledge of pharmacy while in school and will continue to heighten my knowledge as a pharmacist and health care provider.  Pharmacists have dedicated themselves to a career of continuing education, meaning that the profession requires the pharmacist to always be current and knowledgeable about new and progressive disease states and therapies.  The plethora of resources that AphA provides like the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, APhA Drug-Info-Line, and Pharmacist Immunization Center will provide me the necessary tools to be an up to date and knowledgeable pharmacist throughout my career.  Not only that, being a part of APhA allows members to fulfill a role as patient advocates by working side by side with law makers to change and create legislation to improve health care.   As health care continues to progress and patient demographics change, organizations like APhA become essential platform to voice concerns and changes that will happen within the field of pharmacy.

-http://www.pharmacist.com/history-apha

Proper Medication Disposal

     Many of us have unwanted or expired medications taking up space in our medicine cabinets.  The best thing to do would be to dispose of these unwanted medications to ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands and become misused or abused.  Many of us either flush these medications down the toilet or just throw them away in the trash.  Both of these methods are not the proper way to dispose of unwanted medications and can actually lead to harmful health risks.  Flushing medications down the toilet can actually reach into main water sources and contaminate the water, along with that, simply throwing medications in the trash allows those who have access to that trash the opportunity to misuse these medications.  Always follow the instructions on how to dispose of a medication properly, if given.  If however, there are not specific instructions given you can follow these instructions provided by the Food and Drug Administration. 

1. Take the unused medication and combine them with an unappealing substance like used coffee grounds or kitty litter.  By doing so, the medications will be less appealing and unrecognizable to those who may want to ingest them.

2. Next put this combination into a sealable bag or container to prevent the medication from leaking out of the trash.  Finally, the bag may be placed into the trash bin.

     Another important tip prior to throwing out empty medications bottles into the trash is to remove any personal information labels, to protect patient identity and person health information.  The Drug Enforcement Agency has partnered up with local community organizations to sponsor National Prescription Drug Take Back Days.  These take back days give people within the community the opportunity to go to a central location and bring all of their left over or unwanted medications to be properly disposed of.  This is a great option for people who are unable or want to take that extra precaution in the disposal of their medications.  This website: http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/newsrelease.htm provides current information on current dates and locations of National Prescription Drug Take Back Days, check the site out to see if an event is happening near you! Finally, if you have any questions regarding your medications as well as their disposal, ask you pharmacist, they are there to help you!

-http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm101653.htm

-http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/newsrelease.htm

Compounding Pharmacy

      Compounding pharmacy is an area of pharmacy that I feel has been often times over looked.  Despite the fact that compounding pharmacy is rarely thought of, its importance in patient care is just as essential as it ever was in individualized therapy.  While researching the topic I came across a perfect definition by the Food and Drug Administration, defining compounding pharmacy as: “… a practice in which a licensed pharmacist combines, mixes, or alters ingredients in response to a prescription to create a medication tailored to the medical needs of an individual patient.”  Now let’s take a closer look into the benefits of utilizing compounding pharmacy.  According to the FDA, 30,000,000 drugs are compounded in the United States each year.  This area of pharmacy is used when a patient is unable to use a mass produced drug available on the market, requiring a unique ingredient specific therapy.  This can be useful for patients with certain allergies, need a certain drug concentration, or cannot tolerate a conventional prescription medication.  Although compounded drugs can be lifesaving and essential to patient well- being, it does not come without its risks.  Compounded products are not FDA approved, with that, compounded ingredients run the risk of becoming contaminated or improperly made if not compounded correctly.  Overall, compounding pharmacy is a safe and beneficial area of pharmacy that should only be used when conventional FDA approved medications are inappropriate for use.  This short video I found does an amazing job showing the structure, precautions, and equipment used in compounding pharmacies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhfwC6aRN0I check it out!

http://www.fda.gov/drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/PharmacyCompounding/default.htm

Pharmacists and Vaccines

     According to the World Health Organization, “A vaccine is a preparation of suspensions of killed or attenuated microorganisms, or products or derivatives of microorganisms, which are intended to produce immunity to a specific disease by stimulating the production of antibodies.”  Vaccines are the best way to prevent diseases, they not only protect the individual receiving the vaccine but also the community in which that person comes into contact with.  Today millions of lives have been saved because of vaccines and their function to prevent and control many infectious diseases.  In addition to saving lives, vaccines save time, resources, and money that would have otherwise been spent in treating a disease. 

     The benefits of vaccines have helped improve health and quality of life for many.  With that, efforts have been made to make immunizations more convenient and available to everyone within the community.  Today more and more pharmacists are becoming certified immunizers to help advance these efforts in making vaccinations easy and affordable to get.   Vaccine administration has only been recently a part of a pharmacist’s role.  According to the American Pharmacist Association, it was not until the 1994 when pharmacists started to train in immunization administration. Today, the types of vaccines pharmacists are allowed to administer are based on laws and regulations made by the state.   Pharmacies are a great way to stay up to date with vaccinations; pharmacists are not only immunizers but also a great resource to help keep patients informed to make the best health decisions.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/howvpd.htm

Vaccines. World Health Organizations Web site. www.who.int/topics/vaccines/en/

http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/issue/2010/January2010/FeatureFocusVaccinations

Generation Rx

     Recently, through the Generation Rx organization, I visited a middle school to talk with eighth grade students regarding medication safety and proper medication disposal.  This was a very enlightening experience to say the least.  While preparing for the presentations I learned some surprising stats, here are a few I thought were interesting:

- 1 in 5 teens report abusing medications that were not prescribed to them.
- Every day, 2,500 youth (aged 12-17) abuse a prescription pain reliever for the very first time.
- 40% of teens consider the abuse of prescription drugs to be much safer than street drugs, which is false.

     The format of the presentation encouraged audience participation, which allowed me to understand what young teens today think of prescription drug abuse and misuse.  Through this interaction I realized the great impact commercial advertising has made on these teens by how well they remembered prescription commercials.  In all three of the classes I presented in, a student had mentioned the Nasonex bee as an advertisement that stuck with them.  I couldn't help but smile because every time a student mentioned that commercial, Antonio Banderas's voice would come to mind.  This scenario helped me realize a very important point, marketing and advertisements can easily persuade a patient to take or not take a certain drug.  With that, it is our responsibility as pharmacists to inform patients whether or not a medication is appropriate for their situation despite what an advertisement recommends.

     The presentation concluded with the showing of a short public service announcement video created by the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy.  This video illustrates the dangers of prescription drug abuse, given three real-life scenarios.  The feedback from the eighth graders was very positive, they were impressed by the quality and message of the video.  I would also have to agree with them on that.  I would like to hear your opinions on this public service announcement, let me know what you think!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWobauzOU0E

-Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2008

 
 

How Fundamental is MTM?

     Ever since my first year of pharmacy school I knew my career had to involve medication therapy management (MTM) in some capacity.  Before I get carried away and elaborate on career goals, I want to define what MTM is.  According to the American Pharmacists Association: "MTM services encompass the assessment and evaluation of the patients' complete medication therapy regimen, rather than focusing on an individual medication product."  A flaw in our health care system today is that patients have multiple providers prescribing different medications without knowledge of a prior diagnoses and drug interactions.  This flaw may lead to serious consequences for patients including drug interactions, duplicative therapies, and unnecessary medications.  MTM is the solution to this flaw because pharmacists have the ability to objectively look at every drug regimen and work with health care providers in a team to achieve optimal therapy plans.  This aspect of pharmacy that would allow me to work as part of the healthcare team while being able to work one on one with a patient, helped me recognize MTM as an essential component in my future career.

     Now that we understand what MTM is, how important is MTM in our society?  Not only does MTM allow patients to play an active role in their health care and saves lives, it also saves money in terms of both provider and patient.  According to HIT Consultant 88% of emergency room admissions were from adverse medication events among the elderly.  Many of which could have been prevented through MTM services.  Unfortunately, many in the community are unaware of this important service.  More community awareness needs to be done to help inform the public of the importance of medication therapy management and improving a patient's quality of life.
  
http://www.hitconsultant.net/2013/03/31/5-ways-healthcare-providers-can-reduce-costly-hospital-readmissions/

http://www.pharmacist.com/sites/default/files/files/core_elements_of_an_mtm_practice.pdf