Walgreens' Pharmacists Review Prescriptions for 150 Seniors

Multiple medications, ailments, doctors, and pharmacies! 

A potential receipe for disaster! 

Most people go to several doctors for treatment and they may have prescriptions from each physician.  It is also not unusual for an individual to use several pharmacies in an effort to save money.  This may seem harmless but todays sophisticated medicines, when combined, can cause side effects that lead to disaster.

Aaron Bradley, Director East Tennessee Area Agency on Aging, a program of East Tennessee Human Resource Agency, is always looking for ways to improve senior citizens lives.  Prescription safety is high on his list.  Bradley asked Scott Leslie, supervisor for local Walgreens pharmacies, to help.  Walgreens saw It as a wonderful chance to have their pharmacists give back to the community.

The pharmacists were eager to volunteer and met in ETHRA’s west Knoxville offices to review 150 client files and lists of prescriptions for potential interactions.  Though the pharmacists didn’t get to review full medical charts, they did have some concerns.   They found some patients taking a double dose because they had prescriptions for a generic and a brand name.  There were a few instances where medicines had been recalled.   Bradley said the Agency's case managers contacted the consumer or caregiver and let them talk with the pharmacist.  All were told to talk with their physicians before discontinuing any medicines.

So how can you avoid a problem with medicines?  The pharmacists encouraged all to keep a complete written list of their medications and review it with their physician on each visit. 

Good advice for all of us.