Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoggite  Diver,
Out of curiosity, is it also similar to the Greek pharmacy system? I spend 2 months/year in Greece and have often wondered what a Greek pharmacist's life is like; I know Cyprus is technically a different country, but...?
How can Cypriot pharmacists get away with selling POMs without a prescription- aren't they afraid of being reprimanded by some pharmacy inspector? |
Yes it is pretty much the same. Differences do occur though due to the fact that in Greece there is a different National Health System. In Cyprus we are still struggling to launch the so called National Health Plan! In Greece there is one!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zoggite Diver,
How can Cypriot pharmacists get away with selling POMs without a prescription- aren't they afraid of being reprimanded by some pharmacy inspector? |
Technically we are not allowed to sell POMs w/o prescription. It is illegal. Ethically, if we are convinced that the patient is using this medication with medical advice we can sell him/her a POM without having nightmares. It is risky, I know. Particularly in the event that someone has a severe adverse effect you may get a real headache but apparently so far we did not have such incident as a pharmacist being accused for this reason!
Psychotropic agents, hormones and antibiotics are the only target for inspectors. I know this is not logical as the criteria are neither patient's safety nor any other legal background! Why only these categories? Psychotropic for obvious reasons. Hormones due to anti-doping campaing. Antibiotics due to some efforts by the MOH to stop pharmacists from selling antibiotics and by this prevent the development of resistant bacteria as a result of antibiotics abuse and misuse. It is however "funny" to see everyday antibiotic prescriptions like Amoxicillin for 2, 3 days or 5 days and under dosage. We also have patients who are using only 2-3 capsules and then they stop comply to the dosage scheme. MOH campaing stops at the pharmacy. People in Cyprus doesn't seem to be educated about the use of antibiotics and MOH never tried to change this! Some physicians also seem like they never had this lesson "Pharmacology" in their Schools!
I know that the situation will change in the near future. The National Health Plan if finally applied there will be no excuses! But untill then...