Ghost shadow

2003-03-28 - 2:31 p.m.

Pharmacy is the most regulated profession there is. If anyone out there disagrees with that statement, please let me know, but I can't think of any other profession that has more laws about what one can and cannot do and exactly how one must do those things. I have a book of just California pharmacy law and it is nearly 200 pages long. Because of all these laws and regulations, it is very easy for a pharmacist to get into trouble. Usually little infractions are overlooked, but if the Board or any other agency is looking into you for a major infraction, they'll get you for the little ones too. One of the things that is regulated is where pharmacists can practice. Pharmacists are not allowed to practice pharmacy outside of a pharmacy. This has recently been expanded to say that pharmacists may not practice pharmacy outside of a condition in which they have full access to their patient's medical information. In other words, I can't sit here in my home and give you advice about your drugs. Pharmacists commit minor infractions of this all the time. If you told me you were concerned because your doctor told you you can't drink grapefruit juice while you're taking Lipitor, I would tell you that you can still drink grapefruit juice but you should put a few hours between your grapefruit juice and your Lipitor and you should take your Lipitor at night. No one would complain about me saying this to you. On the other hand, I can't start spouting off about complicated drug and medical issues. I just can't. Anything I say I am legally accountable for. If I tell you Cipro is a great drug for urinary tract infections and then you take it and have an allergic reaction and die, I am totally liable. My license and my life are on the line for every action I take and if I'm practicing outside the area I'm supposed to be practicing and something goes awry, it's my ass. It's just the way things are. I would be happy to point you towards more useful resources, but please don't take it personally if I refuse to answer all your questions.

Anyway, how do you like my mouse fireworks? Go ahead, click your mouse. Pretty darn cool, eh?

It is once again time for

1. What was your most memorable moment from the last week?

This week didn't really have many memorable moments in it. I guess the most memorable would be meeting my newest little brother, Super. He's a cool kid.

2. What one person touched your life this week?

Again, nobody really touched my life this week. I guess I'll have to go for Super again just because he made me feel accepted this week. I guess that's not really a feeling I get that often.

3. How have you helped someone this week?

Working in administration three days this week and being on jury duty the other two days didn't really allow me to help people in my usual pharmacyly way. I guess the most helpful thing I did was to take care of the house while my parents were away. And even then all I did was take out the trash and feed the fish.

4. What one thing do you need to get done by this time next week?

By this time next week I better have asked Diane for an MUE and also I better contact medical records to get some records for my project.

5. What one thing will you do over the next seven days to make your world a better place?

The next volleyball season is starting up. It actually started this week but by the time Kevin told me about it I had already told Super that I would be meeting him at the initiation and I didn't want to back out. So in the next seven days I will be playing volleyball again which will make my world a better place.