Pharmacists

Drug interactions can lead to serious problems. Even taking something as seemingly benign as an over-the-counter cold medication could lead to an unpleasant, or dangerous, interaction with a so-routine-you-don't-even-think-about-it prescription drug. This panel of pharmacists can help sort out what drugs cause reactions and how to avoid unwanted ones. A live Web chat Thursday (noon EST, 11 a.m. CST, 9 a.m. PST) will feature Stefanie C. Nigro, assistant clinical professor at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy; Laura Hobbs, pharmacy clinical coordinator and director of the pharmacy residency program at Hartford Hospital; and Flora Harp, community practice resident for CVS/pharmacy.

A physician, a pharmacist and 15 others have been charged with bilking Medicare and Medi-Cal out of millions of dollars in an elaborate prescription drug fraud that resulted in the government paying over and over for the same pills. Using stolen or illegally obtained Medicare beneficiary cards, members of the ring known as "runners" would obtain prescriptions for expensive drugs from Kenneth Wayne Johnson, a Glendale physician, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

Your Nov. 30 package of stories on pharmacists ["RX: Take With Advice"] was very informative, but you and the pharmacists omitted two very important suggestions for readers: Carry a printed list of all your prescription and nonprescription drugs in your wallet or purse. Include name of drug and your dosage and frequency. I also have the list (mine and my wife's) as a memo on my BlackBerry. When you get a new prescription, read the literature that the pharmacy prints out and gives you. Arnold Daitch Northridge :: My grandfather was a pharmacist who used to compound some of his own medicines.

California regulators are taking aim at giant drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., accusing it of bribing doctors and pharmacists to use its products by offering thousands of cash kickbacks, gifts and "happy hours" with the Los Angeles Lakers. The case against the drug company was developed with the help of former Lakers player Lucius Allen and his wife, Eve, who worked for Bristol-Myers and provided access to the basketball team, according to a lawsuit made public Friday. Doctors and family members were invited to Lakers Dream Camps arranged by the company, the lawsuit said.

There's an old Jerry Seinfeld joke many pharmacists know all too well. It's the one in which he describes their "whole job" as taking pills from a big bottle and putting them in a little bottle. "I think that's how a lot of people see us," says Jeff Goad, an associate professor at the USC School of Pharmacy, with both frustration and good humor. FOR THE RECORD: Pharmacist advice: A Nov. 30 article about the role of pharmacists in providing drug information stated that pharmacists are generally paid on the basis of how many prescriptions they fill.

When he arrived for his first visit, the 55-year-old diabetic had no idea what constituted a healthy diet, says pharmacist Steven Chen. "He ate two or three dinners a night, such as two whole pizzas about an hour apart." And he didn't know how to manage low blood sugar attacks. "He would eat an entire pie or cake instead of the recommended one serving of carbohydrate every 15 minutes." Not only did Chen advise his patient about good nutrition and exercise, he stressed the importance of taking his medications every day exactly as prescribed.

America is short of pharmacists to properly dispense the more than $70 billion in prescription drugs that we take each year, and the serious shortage is expected to get worse. With all of the world's other problems, the need for more pharmacists may seem to be minor. But they are a crucial part of our health-care system, and their mistakes can be devastating. As the number of the elderly rises, so does the demand for prescription drugs and therefore for people to fill them.

When the smoke cleared from the devastating fires of 1993, pharmacist Susan McCalla Ornellas gave free medication, toothbrushes, eyedrops and other necessities to hundreds of victims. Then she did the same after devastating rains flooded the area after the fire and again in 1995. For all of that, she was recently recognized by the 6,000-member California Pharmacists Assn. as its 1996 Bowl of Hygeia recipient for outstanding community service.

Welcome to your friendly neighborhood drugstore, where you can buy lawn sprinklers, Dove Bars, cat litter, greeting cards and--oh, yes--prescription medicines. Way in the back of the store, on a raised dais surrounded by frosted glass, pharmacists tap into computer files and pack pills into brown bottles. But practitioners of the job that has been described as an endless round of "count and pour, lick and stick" are pushing to give their customers more than this.

I appreciated your article about the expanding services offered by local pharmacists ("A Far Different Pharmacy," June 26). Physicians who feel threatened by pharmacists offering disease management and education services may be missing the point. The expanding role of pharmacists is complementary to that of physicians. In fact, a growing number of pharmacists are setting up collaborative relationships with doctors. In a health-care system in which doctors have limited time to spend with their patients, pharmacists are stepping up and providing quality services that patients need, increasingly in collaboration with physicians.

The average adult fills about a dozen prescriptions and refills every year; after age 65, they fill more than 30 prescriptions annually. For many people, their local pharmacist may be as familiar as their doctor ? and often a lot easier to get time with. Some pharmacists are building on that position, expanding their role from drug dispenser to drug educator and chronic disease coach. By doing so, they may fill a void created by the shortage of primary-care physicians while boosting their business.

Martin Marootian, a retired pharmacist who stood up for Armenian genocide victims as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that resulted in a $20-million settlement from New York Life Insurance Co. for failing to honor claims on policies sold to thousands of Armenians slain during the last years of the Ottoman Empire, has died. He was 95. Marootian died Feb. 25 of natural causes at his home in San Diego, said his daughter, Andrea. In 1999 Marootian joined a legal battle to force New York Life to honor policies purchased by more than 2,000 Armenians, most of whom perished in what some historians have described as the first genocide of the 20th century.

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday ordered the makers of about 500 unapproved prescription cough and cold medicines to get them off the market because they have not been proven safe and effective. The drugs have been linked to a few relatively minor problems, such as drowsiness and irritability, but the FDA is concerned that medical problems associated them may be significantly underreported. "We have some specific safety concerns with some of them," Deb Autor, head of compliance in the FDA's drug office, said in a telephone news conference.

When indie rocker Ted Leo comes to Los Angeles, he and his taut band the Pharmacists typically head to clubs like the El Rey and the Troubadour, where they played a packed, high-energy show last March that included a killer cover of the Waterboys' 1988 song "Fisherman's Blues. " Leo ? a tall, lean vegan who performs as if he's been plugged directly into the wall socket ? returns over the weekend, but he'll be flying solo, hauling his amp onto stages at the Mondrian Hotel (Saturday)

Drug interactions can lead to serious problems. Even taking something as seemingly benign as an over-the-counter cold medication could lead to an unpleasant, or dangerous, interaction with a so-routine-you-don't-even-think-about-it prescription drug. This panel of pharmacists can help sort out what drugs cause reactions and how to avoid unwanted ones. A live Web chat Thursday (noon EST, 11 a.m. CST, 9 a.m. PST) will feature Stefanie C. Nigro, assistant clinical professor at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy; Laura Hobbs, pharmacy clinical coordinator and director of the pharmacy residency program at Hartford Hospital; and Flora Harp, community practice resident for CVS/pharmacy.

Prosecutors have filed a forgery charge against a Beverly Hills pharmacist after L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca personally launched a criminal investigation on behalf of the pharmacist's landlord, a well-connected businessman who has given Baca campaign donations and gifts. Prosecutors had declined to file charges against Afshin Nassir when detectives first submitted their case, but reconsidered after an appeal from the Sheriff's Department. Nassir had been in a dispute with Ezat Delijani that Beverly Hills police had concluded was a civil matter.

Walgreen Co. pharmacists in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana will begin a strike today against the largest U.S. drugstore chain. The National Pharmacists Assn., which represents 1,200 Walgreen pharmacists at 400 stores in the Chicago area, told members not to report to work after 10 p.m. Central time today, according to the union's website. The employees rejected a contract offer and authorized a strike last week. They are seeking improved staffing levels and working conditions.

Pharmacists are obliged to dispense the Plan B pill, even if they are personally opposed to the "morning after" contraceptive on religious grounds, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. In a case that could affect policy across the western U.S., a supermarket pharmacy owner in Olympia, Wash., failed in a bid to block 2007 regulations that required all Washington pharmacies to stock and dispense the pills.

Got questions about medications? Get answers from pharmacist Briana Koertner, courtesy of a live health Web chat sponsored by the Daily Press of Newport News, Va. The chat takes place noon to 1 p.m. EDT (9 to 10 a.m. PDT) Wednesday. And don't worry if you don't know how to "chat"; there's a tutorial on the website. To participate, go to Ask the Pharmacist. If you can't make the live chat, you can read a transcript of it and past ones by going to an archive of "Live Chat Transcripts From Health.

Reports that illicit drug users may be targeting the trash at senior living facilities in search of discarded prescription-drug vials have sparked concern among a group of Santa Clarita Valley senior citizens, doctors and pharmacists. "We don't know to what degree it is happening, but it's probably happening a great deal," said Gene Dorio, a Santa Clarita physician whose patients are primarily senior citizens. "It's a potential loophole … a potential way to go under the radar and get illicit medication."