Control Substance Abuse Discussion

I’m trying to learn for my Health & Medical class and I’m stuck. Can you help?

1-5 discussion replys

Nuris Carreno

Module 1 Control Substance Abuse

Control Substance Federal Law was created to control the abuse of certain medication that can lead to addiction specially on young adult. Pharmacies and doctor office should have a strict control of the prescription in case to get an audit from the DEA agency but in my opinion it is very difficult to restrict people from getting this controlled schedule II or III once the refill of medicament is not aloud the patient should look for another way to find it even if it is not legal. I heard about a friend who was addicted to Vicodin for a long time and she used to go to the doctor to get the prescription every month until she had to get it on the street so sad.

In Texas people are addicted to Methanphetamines and in Arizona they are addicted to Opium. I heard on the news that since the begining of this year there was a State Law who prohibit the prescripition of this medicament to young people. This is why every states is trying to go beyond DEA because every state have a diferent statistic abouse which drug is creating more addiction.

DEA have to go trought a lot of reseach and different statistic around the country and it will take a long time to change the schedule of the abusive medication.

I will think that this restriction make difficult to patients that really need the medication according to the condition to access the doses and refill becuase the restrictions from DEA. For example there are some patients who suffer from a chronic pain and need strong medication in high doses they are not addicted they need to improve the quality of life.

Nuris Carreno

Module 2

In the state of Texas it is not permitted to the Pharmacy Technician to offer counseling to any patient. There is a window next to the Pharmacy counter to offer consultation to the customer once they receive the medicine for the first time or in case they have a question for the Pharmacist.

Pharmacology is the base of the Pharmacy site. When we took this class we learned the different medicaments prescribed according to the condition of the patient and the name brand and the generic. how they should be taking and when. Secondary effect on the patient. I would say this is the bible of the pharmacy every work routine.

One case that would be important to apply the Pharmacology knowledge is to avoid any medication error with the prescription because if you read the name of medicine and it does not match with the condition of the patient you can easily find out that there is something wrong and advice the pharmacist. Another case is when there are some alike names sometimes you can listen and write the wrong name but when you verified the condition for what it was prescribe you will get the error.

Pharmacology teach you how to read a prescription specially the Sig instructions this is vital for a Pharmacy Technician to know.

Another case you used Pharmacology knowledge is to identify when the customer is asking for an specific medication and using either the generic or brand name.

Nuris Carreno

Module 3

In the state of Texas it is easy to go from brand name to the generic medication in fact since the Obamacare was implemented Doctors were encouraging to prescribe only generic .In my opinion it is because the insurance companies do not want to raise their cost. Getting Generic medication is very crucial for people that do not have insurance. I did subscribe to a plan that help you to obtain medicament cheaper at the pharmacy and they ask for Generic all the time. There are some clinics where people go without insurance and they paid for consultation when they send the request to the pharmacy the medicament is most all the time generic in order to get low cost prices for everyone.

I do work at Walgreen and the pharmacy have a card reward program that lower the cost of medicine because every time you pick up your order you get discount and add points to the account. This is very positive because sometimes you paid zero is you have points to redeem,

Nuris Carreno

Module 4

After being familiar with the task that Pharmacy Technician perform at the Pharmacy , We can conclude that they are the base of the pharmacy operation. It all depend of the experience and level that Pharmacy Technician obtain during years working in the environment . I would say that after years of working at the Pharmacy they should be able to give some counseling about some medication since they work with prescription everyday and they learn about the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokynetic of medicaments but unfortunately Pharmacist are the one who have the year of studies but the Pharmacy Technician have years of experience after assisting Pharmacist everyday.

Nuris Carreno

Module 5

Telepharmacy is a remote pharmacy site that operate by video conference and permit the customer or patients to communicate with the pharmacist and receive counseling about the medications without having to drive hours from the rural areas where they live. It is operated y a Pharmacist and Pharmacy tehcician who will get the prescription electronically and process the medication orders or refills by the computer using the electronic devices like scan machine. It is very convenient and it also have items OTC available.

In my opinion I think it is very convenient for people who live in rural areas and for Seniors who live by themselves and do not have any family member to get the medication. At this time everything is done by phone and computers and everyone knows how to operate the easy application like video conference. I do not see any disadvantage only that you have to get other service like getting an injection or taking the blood pressure or any diabetic test that must be done on site.

I will love to do this kind of service because you will have more time to focus on your duties and I am qualify to work with any kind of electronic system .I think it will be less chance to get any medication errors because everything would be done electronicaly.