Over-the-counter antibiotic eye drops

[john_matrix]

Hello, my wife and I have both been refused over-the-counter eye drops by different pharmacists in the recent past:

1) I once tried to buy some eye drops in anticipation of me getting conjunctivitis at some stage in the future. Crazy idea, I know, but since it has a relatively long shelf life if left unopened I thought it wouldn't hurt. However, the pharmacist refused to sell me it as I was not showing any symptoms!

2) When I did actually have conjunctivitis once, my wife tried to purchase eye drops for me on a different occasion, and in a different store (same chain), but because I wasn't in the shop the pharmacist refused.


After complaining to their customer services, I was told that this is standard practice for all pharmacies in the UK since they are following Royal Pharmaceutical Society "rules" (although the lady I spoke to could not tell me where this "rule" was actually written down).

Was I being fobbed off or is this indeed standard practice?

Thank you in advance.

[LeftArm]

The Pharmaceutical society guidance on the sale of chloramphenicol eye drops is available here:
http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/pdfs/otcchlo...edropsguid.pdf


1) The pharmacist will not sell medicines that are inappropriate if you have no symtoms then you don't need any medicines.
2) The pharmacist is being asked to make a diagnosis without seeing the patients eye. The RPSGB guidance includes many instances where chloramphenicol would not be appropriate and where you would be recommended to consult with your doctor. The pharmacist is unable to make that judgement without seeing the symptoms first hand.

If you can anticipate the likelyhood of getting an eye infection I would question whether there may be another underlying condition or the posibilty that it is in fact an allergy.

[john_matrix]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

The Pharmaceutical society guidance on the sale of chloramphenicol eye drops is available here:
http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/pdfs/otcchlo...edropsguid.pdf

Unless I missed it I don't see anything in that guidance that would preclude a pharmacist from selling that over-the-counter product to someone not exhibiting the symptoms.

1) The pharmacist will not sell medicines that are inappropriate if you have no symtoms then you don't need any medicines.
2) The pharmacist is being asked to make a diagnosis without seeing the patients eye. The RPSGB guidance includes many instances where chloramphenicol would not be appropriate and where you would be recommended to consult with your doctor. The pharmacist is unable to make that judgement without seeing the symptoms first hand.

But I can still buy a whole host of other medicines without exhibiting any symptoms. What's so different about the eye drops? (more of a rhetorical question rather than directed to you!)

If you can anticipate the likelyhood of getting an eye infection I would question whether there may be another underlying condition or the posibilty that it is in fact an allergy.

The two examples I gave were a couple of years apart but I get your point.

Oh well, I guess it's just another example of a "nanny state" mentality.

[Pharmanaut]

<<Oh well, I guess it's just another example of a "nanny state" mentality.>>

Depends on how you look at it.
Medicines are dangerous things, though some of them are trivialised.
Help us to help you - we have your interests at heart.

[LeftArm]

Hi, thanks for the reply.


Unless I missed it I don't see anything in that guidance that would preclude a pharmacist from selling that over-the-counter product to someone not exhibiting the symptoms.

That is true but it would be impossible for the pharmacist to follow the guidelines without actually having the patient there to assess the symptoms.

But I can still buy a whole host of other medicines without exhibiting any symptoms. What's so different about the eye drops? (more of a rhetorical question rather than directed to you!)

There are a few OTC medicines that the pharmacist will always want to be directly invloved in the sale. In general OTC medicines are safe to use even if the patient has misdiagnosed there own condition. In this case a misdiagnosis could mean loss of sight and the pharmacist could be held responsible.

Perhaps not nanny state but compensation culture

[bobbin]

Hello, my wife and I have both been refused over-the-counter eye drops by different pharmacists in the recent past:

1) I once tried to buy some eye drops in anticipation of me getting conjunctivitis at some stage in the future. Crazy idea, I know, but since it has a relatively long shelf life if left unopened I thought it wouldn't hurt. However, the pharmacist refused to sell me it as I was not showing any symptoms!

2) When I did actually have conjunctivitis once, my wife tried to purchase eye drops for me on a different occasion, and in a different store (same chain), but because I wasn't in the shop the pharmacist refused.


After complaining to their customer services, I was told that this is standard practice for all pharmacies in the UK since they are following Royal Pharmaceutical Society "rules" (although the lady I spoke to could not tell me where this "rule" was actually written down).

Was I being fobbed off or is this indeed standard practice?

Thank you in advance.

There are several issues eg.

1. There are different types of conjunctivitis. Chloramphenicol is only suitable for bacterial conjunctivitis.

2. Serious diseases of the eye can be confused with conjunctivitis. The pharmacist would need to look at the eye and speak to the patient.

3. Widespread use of antibiotics leads to resistance. The consequences can be serious.

[Zoggite]

Was I being fobbed off or is this indeed standard practice?

I would have refused both sales too.
I think you were very lucky and should be grateful that you were served by 2 pharmacists who evidently haven't lost all their professional integrity to the Gods of Profit & cash registers!
They both had your best interest at heart, and chose to put it above that of their wallets (or their employer's); For that, they deserve your respect, not a complaint to customer services!

[howe928]

if the carer (e.g. wife buying for husband) knows patient symptoms and able to answer medical related questions (using any eye drop, contact lens user etc) or patient bought them before (and not have frequent infection), then it could convince the pharmacist the sale can go through with some counselling advices