Meet Ray F.
My name is Ray Funatsu and I've been a pharmacist since 1963. In '74 I started working as a manager with Sav-on until '94; that's when I stepped down because it got to be a little too much. I worked until 2000 and retired and now I'm on-call. When I first started working as a manager it was nice because it was a nickel a script. Then after a while management said that everything was going to be off of sales, bottom line. They give you overhead and all those things and you were supposed to try and stay under the budget. The only trouble is that every time you stay under it, the next year that becomes the new standard and you get even less. It's kind of ridiculous. I just couldn't do it. Nowadays they're doing the same thing. It's all paperwork and trying to meet your budget. Management is trying to work it out so there's no overlap for pharmacists. Newer generations keep coming out really educated. They're going to have to do something more to use that education.
One way is for pharmacists to increase their role in healthcare. The
first line of defense is usually the pharmacist. Patients will come in
and ask the pharmacist questions such as, "What can I do for this
headache?" or "My kid has this cough, what can I do?" Right now
pharmacists are kind of limited because for medications like cough
suppressant, you now must call the doctor for children six years and
under. Patients can't call the doctor at certain times of the night,
especially in 24-hour stores. They have to wait until the next day for
whoever the doctor is on-call, a doctor that has no knowledge of the
kid. They always have to ask you "What kid?" "Date of birth?" "How much
does he weigh?" To the contrary, the pharmacist already has that
knowledge because they'll see or know the child. A lot of the companies
nowadays put out a chart of kids delineating how for so many pounds, it
takes this long for a child to absorb the medication. It helps you
figure out the dosage. Pharmacists can start prescribing low dosages of
certain medications.
Currently, pharmacists do not have to flexibility to do this because the American Medical Association is really strong and doesn't want any group infringing on their area. However, this is already happening slowly because there are physician's assistants and nurse practitioners. I'm sure the pharmacist's knowledge is better or equal. They are the American Pharmacists Association and a California Pharmacists Association but they are not as strong. Doctors also pay a lot for malpractice insurance whereas for pharmacists it's not as bad. Although I do have to say, pharmacists make mistakes too like everyone else. A lot of times pharmacists can't read the prescriptions and the patient wants the medication now. So the pharmacist calls the doctor and the doctor's usually not there. Instead there's a doctor on-call and he usually says, "I don't know the patient" so then you're kind of stuck. Most of the time nowadays if we can't read it we don't fill it. We don't take that chance because of malpractice. Pharmacists are all caught in the middle between patients, doctor, and whatever else. It's quite sad.
Currently, pharmacists do not have to flexibility to do this because the American Medical Association is really strong and doesn't want any group infringing on their area. However, this is already happening slowly because there are physician's assistants and nurse practitioners. I'm sure the pharmacist's knowledge is better or equal. They are the American Pharmacists Association and a California Pharmacists Association but they are not as strong. Doctors also pay a lot for malpractice insurance whereas for pharmacists it's not as bad. Although I do have to say, pharmacists make mistakes too like everyone else. A lot of times pharmacists can't read the prescriptions and the patient wants the medication now. So the pharmacist calls the doctor and the doctor's usually not there. Instead there's a doctor on-call and he usually says, "I don't know the patient" so then you're kind of stuck. Most of the time nowadays if we can't read it we don't fill it. We don't take that chance because of malpractice. Pharmacists are all caught in the middle between patients, doctor, and whatever else. It's quite sad.
My name is Ray Funatsu and I've been a pharmacist since 1963. In '74 I started working as a manager with Sav-on until '94; that's when I stepped down because it got to be a little too much. I worked until 2000 and retired and now I'm on-call.
Leave a comment