In geriatrics, we put a premium on trying to simplify medication use. As a consultant pharmacist who has worked extensively in long term care and assisted living, I am routinely asked if we can reduce someone’s medications. Reducing medications is something I...
Pharmacists spend a ton of time authorizing, clinically reviewing, and verifying prescriptions. We also spend time reviewing what information we have about a patient. Unfortunately, in a community pharmacy type setting, a diagnosis is often not given on the...
Anticholinergic side effects are something that I see on nearly a daily basis. I’ve become accustomed at identifying these and trying to come up with a game plan to minimize these adverse effects. Here’s a few strategies for things I look out for on a...
A 63 year old female presents with complaints of taking too many medications and that her “my medications are making me sick”. In addition, she reports that she feels nauseated every morning after breakfast and associates it with her morning pills. She...
There are a lot of examples that fit this criteria and I suspect a lot of heavy opinions on this topic. I’ve certainly made suggestions to switch to a likely “safer” medication, but have had instances where I disagree with this practice as well in...
Here’s a case scenario with a primary focus on the NSAID prescribing cascade. A 76 year old male has a past medical history of: COPD CHF Hypertension GERD Osteoarthritis Current medications include: Metoprolol 25 mg BID Lisinopril 10 mg daily Symbicort 160/4.5...
