Pharmacists Month

 

   October is Pharmacists Month. It is a chance for pharmacists and pharmacies to educate the public on their role in health care. To celebrate the occasion, I thought I would write a little about my job and include some fun facts about pharmacists.

   I became a pharmacist in 1993. At that time women made up slightly less than half of working pharmacists. (Although I can't find a hard figure for 1993.) Today 55% of pharmacists are female (National Bureau of Economic Research).It may not seem like a big change, but it is. When I first started working, I was the only female pharmacist on staff. Any other women working in the pharmacy were technicians or clerks. I was the first female pharmacist to work in the town where I had my first job. It was not easy. Customers, used to older male pharmacists, would refuse to deal with me. I was too young and I was a woman. I had doctors who couldn't believe I was a pharmacist. One doctor said to me ,"Since when have women been allowed to be pharmacists?" Elizabeth Gooking Greenleaf was an apothecary during colonial times. According to Wikipedia, she is considered to be the first female pharmacist. Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi was the first woman to graduate from a school of pharmacy in 1863. Twenty years later Susan Hayhurst became the first woman to receive a pharmacy degree. Women have been pharmacists for a very long time.

   My job title has changed over the years. When I first started working, I was considered to be a retail pharmacist because I worked in a drugstore and not a hospital or nursing home. Pharmacists at that time  were considered mainly drug sellers. We filled prescriptions, made sure they didn't interact with any other medicines and sold them to patients. Over the years my job has changed. My focus is no longer on "licking, sticking counting and pouring".  My focus is on educating my customers about the medications they take, helping them to take them correctly and resolving any problems they may have with their medications. Instead of a retail pharmacist, I'm now a community pharmacist.

   Part of my job is to get to know my customers. It's a lot easier to help people when you know something about them and about their lives. This is something I have emphasized to the interns that I've worked with over the years. We treat people, not diseases. When a person has been to see several doctors over the course of a day or has received a diagnosis that scares them, it is vitally important that a pharmacist be kind, caring and concerned. I also want my customers to feel comfortable coming to me with questions or concerns about their care because as a pharmacist, I am the most accessible health care provider.

   Did you know that Coca Cola, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi and Vernor's Ginger Ale were all invented by pharmacists? Cola syrup is sometimes used as a remedy for upset stomachs. (I have sometimes told people with nausea to drink room temperature Coke with some of the carbonation stirred out.) Did Coca Cola contain cocaine? Yes, the amount was reduced in 1903 and eliminated in 1928 (businessinsider.com)

   When I first started working in 1993, pharmacies were just beginning to bill insurance companies for prescriptions. Previously customers paid for their medications and then requested reimbursement from insurance companies for medications. Pharmacies were also just starting to use computer software to handle dispensing of medications and recordkeeping. Before prescription labels were typed on a typewriter and prescription records were kept on cards similar to a library card catalog system.

  There have also been changes in the drugs that I dispense. Terpin hydrate with codeine, Darvocet, quinine, kaolin-pectin, Propulsid, Redux and Seldane are drugs that were commonly used and eventually taken off the market for various reasons. The commonly used drugs like Prozac, omeprazole, escitalopram, losartan and atorvastatin did not exist when I first started working.

  Fun pharmacy fact: on October 26, 1951 President Harry S. Truman signed into law the Durham- Humphrey Amendment. This separated drugs into two categories, legend (prescription only) and OTC (over the counter, no prescription needed.) It requires that prescription medication labels bear the statement "Caution: Federal Law prohibits dispensing without a prescription." The bill was sponsored by Senator Hubert Humphrey, who was a pharmacist before going into politics and Carl Durham representative of North Carolina, also a pharmacist.

   On October 10, 1962 President John F. Kennedy signed the Kefauver Harris Amendment into law. This amendment required drug manufacturers to prove safety as well as efficacy of medications to be marketed in the United States. This bill, sponsored by Senator Estes Kefauver and Representative Oren Harris, was in response to the thousands of children that developed birth defects as a result of the drug thalidomide which was taken for morning sickness during pregnancy. Before this law drug manufacturers only had to prove their products were safe.

  Hope you enjoyed this little bit of pharmacy history. When I started out in 1993 I never dreamed that I'd be doing some of the things I do now. It never occurred to me that I'd be giving vaccines to patients to prevent flu and shingles. I never thought that I'd be working in the midst of a pandemic making sure my customers can safely get the medication and care they need. I've been been a pharmacist for over 27 years. I've always been grateful and proud to be able to work in this field and be a part of the health care team.