Pharmacists own health

[admin]

Hi All

I found this on the net, and wondered if these figures are true, then what does it say about pharmacists own state of health? Who actually cares about our health/well being?

From Drug Topics, 7/16/2001
Study by a Georgia State University researcher named Dean Dabney, Ph.D.
95% OF ALL PHARMACISTS HAVE DIVERTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS FOR THEIR OWN USE.
65% OF THESE PHARMACISTS STOLE THE MEDICINE FROM THEIR PLACE OF WORK.
40% OF THESE PHARMACISTS HAVE ENGAGED IN THE ILLICIT USE OF POTENTIALLY ADDICTIVE MIND ALTERING DRUGS (PAPDs
potentially addictive pharmaceutical drugs).
20% OF PHARMACISTS SURVEYED REPORTED 5 OR MORE EPISODES WITH PAPDs.
6% OF PHARMACISTS SURVEYED REPORTED MORE THAN 10 EPISODES.
6% OF PHARMACISTS SURVEYED IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS DRUG ABUSERS.
7.5% OF THE THOSE WHO IDENTIFIED THEMSELVES AS USERS HAD FORGED PRESCRIPTIONS.
24% OF THESE PHARMACISTS STARTED WITH PAPDs WHEN THEY WERE IN COLLEGE.
64% WERE OUT IN THE WORK FORCE WHEN THEY STARTED SELF- MEDICATING
42% OF PHARMACISTS SURVEYED HAD WITNESSED ILLICIT USE OF PAPDs.
65% HAD WORKED WITH A PHARMACIST WHO CONDONED SELF- MEDICATION.
30% PERSONALLY APPROVED OF SELF-MEDICATION.

[Jeff]

Remember that this is a US quote - it means that pharmacists take the equivalent to a couple of co-codamol every now and then without getting a prescription or paying for them.

Guilty as charged.

Jeff

[Zoggite]

I can believe those figures; Did you know that when you're asking for a quote for car insurance, you're better off saying you're an "employee", rather than mentioning that you're a phcist, as this puts you in a higher-risk group due to our "ready access to drugs" and therefore greater likelihood of driving under the influence of drugs...

[admin]

Remember that this is a US quote - it means that pharmacists take the equivalent to a couple of co-codamol every now and then without getting a prescription or paying for them.

Guilty as charged.

Jeff

Jeff - are co-codamol 8/500mg a POM in the US? It could hardly be called: -

POTENTIALLY ADDICTIVE MIND ALTERING DRUGS

could it? I just thought this was interesting reading.

In all the pharmacies I have worked in it's been the norm for people to take an ibuprofen tablet, or a couple of co-codamol for say a headache.

When I was at Uni one of the class got kicked off our course because he was stealing temazepam during his summer job.

The worst case I have ever heard of involved a pharmacist who had a gambling addiction, and stole MST's from the CD cabinet. When the area manager came round (called by the dispenser) he tried to blame her. He also stole from her own purse.

Apparantly this guy was in my year, but I don't remember him. My friend says he didn't turn up for the last exam, because he was on a winning streak at the casino and thought he was going to break the bank!

So he wasn't even qualified. He used his brothers certificate and worked anyway. I never did find out if anything happened to him.

[admin]

Pharmacist Stress

Does anyone else know other pharmacists who have really suffered from stress? I personally know two who regularly have to take time off because they find the job hard to cope with, and another two who have had a breakdown and were really ill.

I think it's terrible that a job can do that to you, but it seems more and more common. Does anyone else know of such people? Where do they turn? My friend called the pharmacist help-line. He said a guy asked him how many scripts his shop did, how much money it took, how many staff he had etc. After pouring his heart out, he said the guy just said "Ok, I'll call you next week to see if you're any better".

Has anyone ever thought of volunteering to be on the help-line?

[Linnear]

When I was at Uni one of the class got kicked off our course because he was stealing temazepam during his summer job.

The worst case I have ever heard of involved a pharmacist who had a gambling addiction, and stole MST's from the CD cabinet. When the area manager came round (called by the dispenser) he tried to blame her. He also stole from her own purse.

There was a pharmacy I used to work at that had a bottle of scotch in the CD cabinet because a local Dr once prescribed Brimoton's Mixture. The senior assistant had to start marking the bottle because she was drinking it!

The next company I worked for had a pharmacist who had been qualified 4 months and died of an overdose. He was taking home the CD returns. He died with traces of MST, Temazepam, Diazepam and alcohol in his bloodstream.
He had a mate that was a Dr's son and they believed that they knew what they were doing! The Dr's son ended up in a coma
Afterward everyone realised that his erratic behaviour was obvious but before that we just didn't think about it.

[admin]

There was a pharmacy I used to work at that had a bottle of scotch in the CD cabinet because a local Dr once prescribed Brimoton's Mixture. The senior assistant had to start marking the bottle because she was drinking it!

The next company I worked for had a pharmacist who had been qualified 4 months and died of an overdose. He was taking home the CD returns. He died with traces of MST, Temazepam, Diazepam and alcohol in his bloodstream.
He had a mate that was a Dr's son and they believed that they knew what they were doing! The Dr's son ended up in a coma
Afterward everyone realised that his erratic behaviour was obvious but before that we just didn't think about it.

Hell that's bad! They must have been abusing the stuff for fun though? They must have also taken quite a lot to end up in that state!

[Linnear]

Hell that's bad! They must have been abusing the stuff for fun though? They must have also taken quite a lot to end up in that state!

They thought they knew what they were doing.

Like I said afterwards we could see that he was always late and scruffy. He was a bit scatterbrained and he once set fire to a DOOP bin! But you never think that this pharmacist is displaying signs of substance abuse. You just think he's a bit slapdash.

[admin]

Like I said afterwards we could see that he was always late and scruffy. He was a bit scatterbrained and he once set fire to a DOOP bin! But you never think that this pharmacist is displaying signs of substance abuse. You just think he's a bit slapdash.

How the hell do you set fire to a Doop bin?

Ok, obviously you can pour petrol over it and light a match, but I don't mean that!

I think we have all worked with sloppy dressed, smelly, scatter brain pharmacists, but like you say substance abuse never enters your head does it! I guess I just wouldn't like to think anyone is doing that.

[Linnear]

How the hell do you set fire to a Doop bin?

Ok, obviously you can pour petrol over it and light a match, but I don't mean that!

He'd had a load of chemicals back from somewhere and he just threw them all in the plastic DOOP bin. Ten minutes and a case of spontaneous combustion later... FOOOM!

[admin]

He'd had a load of chemicals back from somewhere and he just threw them all in the plastic DOOP bin. Ten minutes and a case of spontaneous combustion later... FOOOM!

Cool - what were they?

[Linnear]

Cool - what were they?

Don't know. Sorry!

[Jeff]

Cool - what were they?

Explosive?

Jeff

[admin]

Explosive?

Jeff

I know that Jeff, I just wondered what the combination actually was. I could think of a few times when a small controlled bomb might come in useful!

[Linnear]

I think it smoked and threatened fire more than actually exploded and took out four shops.


Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up.