Oct

Insightful comment

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Education, Just a question, Patient Education, Stupid People, Television, Work Sucks

I received a pretty solid comment from “southernpharmer” in response to Non-Drowsy Claritin.

I have found (in my limited experience) that people ask for your professional opinion only to hope that it agrees with what they already had in mind because that is what they are gonna do regardless. I want to help, but WHY WHY do these people waste both mine and their time???

That sums it up completely. People don’t care what I think. People don’t care that I have a doctorate in pharmacy. People don’t care that I know how to treat almost any disease that they could seek OTC meds for or that I can look it up very quickly and easily if I don’t know. People don’t care that I’ve been in pharmacy for many years and damn near heard it all.

All people believe deep down that they are actually intelligent. Here’s the fact: they are not. The average American IQ is 98 (that’s a weak source, if you find a better one, I’ll change this). As we all know, there is going to be an equal distribution about that mean. Those above that likely don’t ask the pharmacist for help — they go to the cough and cold aisle, read the boxes, and pick the product they need. Those at or below that ask a friend, family member, or watch TV (also considered a family member). Then they come to the pharmacy and ask me — to see if I’m as smart as the television that said “MUCINEX GETS THE MUCUS OUT!” If I am as smart as that there picture-box, they say, “That’s what I thought!” IF I say something different than what they wanted, it could go one of three [main] ways.

They accept my professional opinion, thank me, and purchase the product I recommended.
They hold the product in their hand, thank me, put it down (in the wrong spot) after I walk away, and buy the product their friend or television told them about.
They listen to me, potentially believe me, but then argue with me about the product their friend (or television) told them is the BEST available — even if it doesn’t treat the problem they are having (Like pseudoephedrine for chest congestion or plain Mucinex for a cough).

Or Print it...

thetwitchytechnician says October 12th, 2008 at 9:30 pm

Pfft, professional opinions? Who needs that with Biomed, Homeopathy, and television ads to tell the uneducated how to medicate their bodies?

Loyal says October 14th, 2008 at 7:47 am

One comment about your IQ source. The difference between 98 and 104 is statistically insignificant so the source is truly not understanding. 98 would be about right. Hey 100 should be the worldwide average by definitiion.

Nate says October 14th, 2008 at 7:51 am

I can tell who will argue with me and I surrender. Mucinex for anything cold related, nyquil for something to make them sleep, and Claritin for allergies (D if they have the ID). And no store names casue that shiz doesn’t work. Airborne too.

I don’t even try anymore because they do this bs where they stair at what they want with what I give them in their hand and switch as soon as I turn my back.

At least Im helping profits

Airborne is a fucking joke — you aren’t serious…are you? You must be a tech or dumb student, because no self-respecting pharmacist would EVER select Airborne for a patient…for fuck’s sake, they are in the middle of a class action lawsuit right now because their product is bunk and doesn’t do a damn thing — it’s a fucking vitamin. Give me a break…

Nate says October 14th, 2008 at 7:52 am

I forgot about Buckley’s and Hurricane too!. Twice the price, twice as effective

Nate Page says October 14th, 2008 at 10:28 am

Hey man-. I tell them its a glorifed vitamin that gets all fizzy in water. I also tell them that you will probably OD on Vit A taking it as directed and it will in no way help your cold but your free to waste your money on it. And 95% of the time they buy it becasue their friend swears by it. So I’m like whatever it’s your money. I’m a pharmacist BTW, I just sick of telling people “No” when they want to hear “Yes”

You can OD on Vit A? Or, are is that a typo and you mean Vit C? I’ve seen studies of Vit C where the tested upwards of 20 GRAMS — so 40 commercially available tablets at a time…WOW!

NOTE — Googled VitA Toxicity. Here’s what I found:
An vitamin A overdose can be harmful to bones and skin, causing weakness and brittleness, even leading to fatigue and vomiting. Excessive intake of vitamin A is toxic, at dosages of around 20-25,000 IU daily. Consuming more than 25,000 IU of vitamin A per day (adults) and 10,000 IU per day (children) from either food or supplements or both is known to be toxic. For those 19 and older, the tolerable upper limit for vitamin A consumption has been set at 10,000 IU per day. An excess of vitamin A taken during pregnancy can cause birth defects in the fetus. Symptoms of a vitamin A overdose include tiredness, discomfort, lethargy, upset stomach, decreased appetite, vomiting, slow or decreased growth, joint soreness, irritability, headache, drying and cracking of the lips and skin, hair loss, and yellowing of the skin.

Futurepharmer says October 14th, 2008 at 1:02 pm

The website you gave uses an SAT to IQ conversion method to calculate IQ. This is a highly inaccurate method of estimating IQ. (He gives conformation, but does not discuss the critics of such a method) Some studies (couldn’t find them, I don’t have acces to the journals anymore) have pointed out that the IQ test is designed to be “unstudyable” that is that you can’t prepare for an IQ test, however the SAT is definately a test you can prepare for. So, IQ and SAT scores would only be correlated accurately when none of the subjects had prepared for the SAT. Also, He uses an ACT to SAT conversion chart, which is also scrutinized by many experts.

The average IQ for any population is DEFINED at 100. The Flynn Effect states that without renormalization the average IQ of most populations rises 3 points every decade. So if the scores were re-normalized in 1998(example) so that the average IQ in 1998 was 100, then the expected average IQ would be 103 today. So at any time, the average IQ of a population at any point after the time of normalization is expected to be greater than 100.

Also, IQ scores are normalized as a Gaussian distribution around 100 with a standard deviation of 15. That means two things, that 95% of people will range between 70 and 130, and that the difference between 84 and 104 (the two extremes given on the website) is statistically insignificant even if it was accurate.

All this to say that both the guy with the IQ of 85 and the guy with the IQ of 110 need to shut up and just do what you tell them to.

BTW: The Website calls 104 “smart,” 104 is the 60th percentile. Since when is that particulary “smart” 60% on the PCAT doesnt get you into pharmacy school.

N.B. says October 14th, 2008 at 4:28 pm

Futurepharmer covered the IQ issue. 100 should be the mean, not that IQ test results have any bearing (in my experience) on whether or not people take good advice.

I’m always astounded by the people who have ideas about some drug or drug product that are completely off-base but who ignore you no matter how many times you correct them. I think my favorite is “I need Sudafed. I have a runny nose. I want something to dry up my sinuses.” My second “favorite” are the people who are willing to pay huge mark-ups for diphenhydramine labelled “sleep aid” instead of just buying the generic labelled “allergy relief” when they’re the same damn thing.

Or, on the same line of thinking, the people who insist that the best sleep aid is Tylenol PM, but who don’t believe you when you tell them they should just take Benadryl.

Don’t even get me started on Airborne.

Simpleton says October 15th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

I like this blog. I left retail to go into hospital. Hospital isn’t much better. You just switch patients with nurses.

Actual nurse quote:

“You mean I have to look in the fridge for refridgerated medications?”

In our hospital, we have to start drawing up Lantus insulin and sending it up to floors because some doctors thought it would prevent the nurses from nearly killing the patients. I mean they only nearly did it twice! I have a suggestion. Instead of increasing pharmacies workload and decreasing our budget:
Get rid of the nurses who almost killed those patients!
Nurses who are too lazy to check a bottle or shove all the bottles of insulin in a single pocket grab bag style should be fired!
Don’t tell me this is about patient care. Taking care of patients should involve hiring competent staff. Never enough money for pharmacy but more than enough money for nurses who work 1 day a month at this hospital and shop on Ebay the whole time they are here.

To stop a huge rant about nurses, I’ll conclude here with.

Nurses = stupid customers