Drug Topics - May 12, 2008 - (Page 10)

10 DRUG TOPICS MAY 12, 2008 www.drugtopics.com Letters Pharmacist salaries not keeping up n response to your March cover story on pharmacist salaries, which showed that R.Ph.s are making $52.00 per hour on average, that salary doesn’t keep up with inflation. I was paid $4.25 per hour plus benefits in Miami, Fla., in 1961. The costs of owning a home, insurance, and real estate taxes have gone up a minimum of 20 times since then in this area. Bernard Moskowitz, R.Ph. EMosko9083@aol.com I might be appropriate with the physician’s approval. This has not only made my patients very happy, but it has cut back on the number of drug reps coming into my store—a win-win for everybody! Dave Marley, Pharm.D., RAS President Marley Drug, Inc. Winston-Salem, N.C. www.marleydrug.com marleydrug@bellsouth.net Drawing a line in the sand over samples I’ve been following the discussion regarding drug samples. If we want to get serious about increasing generic utilization and lowering healthcare costs, I say we do away with samples completely! Samples are not about helping the indigent, this is what patient assistance programs are for. The only reason samples exist is to encourage physicians to write prescriptions for more expensive brand names, instead of cheaper generic alternatives. When a physician gives a sample of Avapro, for example, it is almost certain a followup script will be written for it as well. While patients benefit in the short term with a month’s supply of free medicine, they are then condemned to a higher co-pay, and in the case of Part D, quicker landing in the donut hole, than if the M.D. had simply started them on a generic ACE inhibitor to begin with. You can apply this to many more drug classes. The problem is generic companies don’t sample, and big PhRMA utilizes this to its advantage every day! I have personally drawn a line in the sand at my pharmacy and now offer a free month’s supply to any patient on an expensive brand-name medicine, when a generic Students shouldn’t be used as free labor I would like to commend your article regarding the use of students as “free-labor,” featured in your Nov. 12, 2007, digital edition. I work in a retail setting and am fortunate enough to have students pass through my pharmacy. I learn as much, if not more, from my students than they learn from me. We pride ourselves when we do have a rotational student in, making sure that his or her rotation is a valuable learning experience rather than a brief stint as a relief R.Ph. Marc Ertz, R.Ph. Pharmacy Manager Shopko Pharmacy 2007 LaCrosse, Wis. PH007@shopko.com Vermont requires expiration date on label I’d like to comment on your Feb. 11 Viewpoint, “Should an Rx label require a use-by date or an expiration date?” I agree with the authors that an expiration date is helpful. I noticed that Vermont was not included as one of the states that require an expiration date. Vermont does require any medication that is dispensed and will expire in one year or less to have the exact expiration date on the label. Perhaps the law was overlooked by the authors of the article because it is not mandated by Vermont Board of Pharmacy rules, but rather is contained in Vermont State Statute 4064(a) regarding misbranding of medications. Julia Eaton, R.Ph. Rutland, Vermont Vermont Board of Pharmacy member jaeaton1@verizon.net Two winners are announced Two attendees of the American Pharmacists Association annual meeting in San Diego are the lucky winners of Drug Topics’ Guess the Number of Pills contest. They are Brandi Hamilton, a pharmacy student at Xavier University of Louisiana, and Steve Constantinides, a pharmacist from Whitestone, N.Y. Their guesses came closest to the actual count of 4,110. For submitting a winning bid, they won an iPod shuffle and a CD of Drug Topics’ six-part podcast series on “Error proofing your pharmacy.” The series can also be accessed on www.drugtopics.com. Letters (including e-mail) should be as brief as possible and sent with the writer’s name, address, daytime phone number, and date of the issue you are referencing to: Editor, Drug Topics, 123 Tice Boulevard, Woodcliff Lake, N.J. 07677-7664. E-mail address: drugtopics@advanstar.com. Correspondence may be edited for length and clarity. http://www.drugtopics.com http://www.marleydrug.com http://www.drugtopics.com

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Drug Topics - May 12, 2008 Contents Latebreakers Letters R.Ph.s Say More Needs to be Done to Prevent Pediatric Drug Errors There's a New School of Thought on Use of Beta-Blockers for Hypertension Cover Story Guest Spot Letters Clinical Practice Special Report Professional Practice Broad Label for New Leukemia Therapy Looks Promising Treating Asthma During Pregnancy Safer than Not, Says New Guide In the Pipeline Clinical Q&A APhA Leader's Plan to Leave Office Takes Center Stage at its Conference Policies Passed at a Glance Giving a Talk to the Community? Check Out These Materials This Foundation has Funds to Spare JP at Large Cover Story: Employers and R.Ph.S: A Win-Win Combo FDA's Ilisa Bernstein Discusses Pharmacy Affairs Legal Q&A Manufacturers Unleash a Rash of Poison Ivy Treatments Are OTC Cold Remedies Safe for Kids? Probiotics are All the Rage: How You Can Capitalize on It CMS' Prices for Round One of DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Raising Concerns CVS Caremark's Mentoring Program Recruits and Retains R.Ph.s Antibiotic Resistance Among Community Pathogens Technology Update New Products Advertisers Index Classified Viewpoint

Drug Topics - May 12, 2008

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