Drugs are Us

Guest Column

By Susan Graham

I do drugs and you probably do, too. For many, the older we get, the more drugs our doctors prescribe. If you have a serious illness, you can probably get the drugs you need. Sometimes you could not get the drugs because there were none that would help. Sometimes a placebo was given to you as part of clinical trial, to see if you see a possible ailment was just “in your head.” Sometimes you knew that the drugs were not helping but, even if they were, too expensive to keep taking them.

My family may have had drug problems in the 1970s, but it was never the fault of the pharmacist. It may be ironic but one of my brothers is a pharmacist with a “PharmD”, a Doctor of Pharmacy. A PharmD is a professional clinical doctorate, similar in professional standing to a Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS). It serves as the highest credential for pharmacists, focused on clinical practice and patient care rather than research.

When one of us got sick, my family had one neighborhood pharmacist who was more like an old familiar friend than an AI helper. He encouraged us children to talk to him and listen to his stories. We were always taught respect for the pharmacist. One of his sons delivered our medications and another one of his sons became a pharmacist and eventually took over the pharmacy.

Not that my family took a great number of drugs, but while writing this piece I had a very vivid flashback and picture of the one drug my father insisted on always having in the medicine cabinet. I have not thought of it since I was about ten years old. Surprise! I even recalled its name: Terpin hydrate, which is an expectorant with crossbones on the bottle, all of which made me giddy to know my memory is still intact! It is no longer sold over the counter in the U.S. A search told me that it’s an expectorant cough syrup. Did your parents stock it?

Like many of us seniors, I have a medical problem or two, which means it takes many different drugs to just maintain my status quo. I belong to support groups where lately I am the most recent member. The others have been here for many years. The biggest topic for all of us is the medications we take. Who takes what? Does a certain drug work? Are there efficacy issues? Could we be allergic to anything in those drugs? Could they require taking and recording of our blood pressure? What about monitoring our blood sugar? Will we die if we don’t take this medication? Could patients like his sister die without the pills? Could genetic testing show me what medications would be best to take, and which would be a waste of time and money?

According to the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria, older adults (65+) should generally avoid medications that cause significant confusion, dizziness, falls, or have high anticholinergic effects. Key drugs to avoid include diphenhydramine (Benadryl), benzodiazepines (e.g., Xanax), certain muscle relaxants, zolpidem (Ambien), and glyburide. Whew!

I fancy myself to be a person who wants to know exactly what is going well and what is potentially wrong with me physically. I want a pharmacist who can discuss what drugs could be advantageous for me and those that could be harmful. I aspire to aging well with my team, which includes a geriatric specialist or primary care physician (PCP), a well-known geriatric medical neurologist, a kind and helpful nursing staff, a neurologist who speaks to me and not to her laptop, a specialist pharmacist who listens to me instead of petting the pet cat during my appointment time, and so much more.

I recently needed two of my medical team members to help me through a pharmaceutical issue. I had to do something that would get the attention of my local pharmacy since they have been making things harder and harder for me with lost prescriptions, drugs that they told me were ready for pick-up, but were not, medications that I had to spend two days tracking down and finally getting the pharmacy back, arranging pick-up all over town, resulting in the pharmacy assistant telling me that it was now past pick up time and maybe I could “hitch a ride” with a neighbor, or hit up some of my friends for pharmacy rides. I think my neighbors and friends have better things to do.

I decided to send an email to the executives of this very well-established national chain store. They could be your pharmacy, too. I sent the letter to them, and someone called me in under 15 minutes. I wish I could tell you that one local person easily solved everything. But no, although they sometimes could help at the local store level, that has not been working for many months.

Then, the pharmacy executive (PE) stepped in and assured me that he would resolve it all. He talked with everyone involved. The PE addressed every one of my concerns and told me they have taken my complaints very seriously and will in the future.

Then he sent me back to the local store for them to try to work out the details. That was a two-hour frustrating phone call with a truly helpful, intelligent, experienced employee who did what she could, but she could not make corporate decisions, of course.

The experience taught me a few things: that “old-time pharmacists” do exist. Drug efficacy measures how well a drug, vaccine, or therapy prevents or cures an illness. It’s the very least to know. Read those drug information sheets that are attached to the drugs, with a magnifying glass if you must. Be an advocate for yourself and others. Engage pharmacy employees and executives responsible for your drug education. Help other people become drug safety advocates, and hug your pharmacist because Drugs Really Are Us.

Susan Graham is a professional writer and founder of Project RACE (Reclassify All Children Equally). Her published work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The San Francisco Chronicle and many others. She also authored the memoir Born Biracial: How One Mother Took on Race in America. Susan has also held management positions in mortgage banking, and commercial real estate. She lives in California’s Central Valley with her husband, Portuguese American poet Sam Pereira and their rescue Maltipoo, Marley.