Category: Uncategorized

Supplies:

• Bins
  • http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0921VX6GG/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20
• Label Maker
  • http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GQHHYFE/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20
• Lazy Susan
  • Double Decker version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C9ZJG5ZS/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20
  • Single version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BDDL5QV/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20

I was able to get supplies off Amazon. Local stores like Walmart or Target are likely have similar options.

I decided on my bin categories and then made labels for each bin. The bins I purchased are 10 inches long, 6 inches wide and 4 inches high. I use our lazy susan spinner for quick access to medications or vitamins that our family uses every day. I have the single version. I love the double decker version and would get it if I had enough medications or high enough cabinets!

I chose categories based on our family’s needs after looking through what we keep on hand. These should be specific to your family. We have food allergies and seasonal allergies so I keep extra allergy medication on hand. We also have a kiddo that we have to watch closely to prevent constipation so we keep several of those remedies on hand also. Think about what ailments or conditions you are commonly treating for your family and include those!

This is a cabinet in our kitchen. It is not recommended to store medications in a bathroom cabinet due to the higher temperatures and humidity in bathrooms. Ours is in a corner cabinet that goes deep to the side. I keep extra things like our pill boxes, oral syringes, oral dosing cups, etc. on the inside portion that isn’t seen.

Categories:

• First Aid, Bandaids
  • Variety of Bandaids types (waterproof, clear strips, fabric strips, etc.) and sizes
  • Butterfly strips
  • Liquid bandage
  • Triple antibiotic ointment
• Childen’s Pain and Fever, Thermometers
  • Children’s ibuprofen
  • Children’s acetaminophen
  • Children’s acetaminophen suppositories
  • Forehead thermometer
  • Ear thermometer
• Vitamins
  • For mom: Calcium + vitamin D, vitamin B12, biotin, collagen booster
  • For children: multivitamin, melatonin jelly beans
• Children’s/Adult Cough and Cold
  • Delsym ages 4+
  • Throat soothing lolly pops
  • Saline nasal spray
  • Vapor rub
  • Frida baby nasal aspirator
• Adult Pain and Fever
  • Adult acetaminophen
  • Adult ibuprofen
• Stomach
  • Dulcolax soft chew kids
  • Dulcolax chewy fruit bites
  • Polyethylene glycol powder laxative
  • Infant’s Mylicon
  • Pepto kids
  • Adult tums
  • I also keep prescription PRNs like ondansetron in here.
• Allergic Reactions/Allergies
  • Children’s loratadine
  • Children’s cetirizine
  • Extra Epipens (we have a food allergy kiddo)
  • Adult Benadryl
  • Adult loratadine
  • Children’s Flonase Sensimist
  • Adult Flonase Sensimist
• Topicals
  • Hydrocortisone ointment, Compound W wart foot pads, Compund W wart Freeze Off

Each family member has a weekly pill box for traveling. I use my label maker and put a name label on the backside of each pill box. I bought my weekly pill boxes at Walmart but Amazon has similar ones available.

We also keep our pet medications in the same cabinet but off to the side. He also has a pill organizer for when he boards while we are on vacation. His is a larger version because some of his chew tablets are big. Old doggo has some arthritis and allergies too. And his pill pockets. Doggo loves his pill pockets!

• Forehead thermometer
  • http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0824XNJSW/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20
• Ear thermometer (for kids)
  • http://www.amazon.com/dp/B084W9Y7HP/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20
• Pill organizer
  • http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BFRWTGZK/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20
• Large capacity pill organizer
  • http://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CL246NW/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20
• Pill Pockets (FOR DOG – not humans!)
  • http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQM0UMS/ref=nosim?tag=preparedpharm-20

Please comment with any questions or suggestions! This post does include Amazon Affiliate links to help with gathering supplies.

Something new is coming. Something fun and fresh!

I’m still a practicing pharmacist. I’ve made a career change and I’m feeling less stress and more joy. I no longer operate in a role that requires me to stay in the regulatory, accreditation and legal loop like I had been. In some ways I loved it and miss it but in a lot of ways it has been a breath of fresh air!

I was burnt out. I had worked for a company that did no value their employees. No more. No more making sure I click a mouse enough to be a “good” employee – regardless if I’m reading a clinical study or participating in a meeting. click. click.

No more being asked to check in on my pharmacists for being in “restroom” code for too long – don’t worry I didn’t do that even when asked. I trust that my fellow doctorate degree employees know when they need to use the bathroom. For reals.

No more denied vacations and denied PTO for my kid’s events! No more auditing. No more “this call is recorded for quality assurance purposes”.

More joy. More real, authentic patient interactions and connections. More flexibility to be a working wife and mom. More time for my own health journey. I’m home for dinner every night. I can pick my kids up and attend their practices and games. I can take little breaks to be a kids Uber driver as needed.

Sometimes we don’t realize how unhealthy and toxic something is until we are on the other side of it.

But I’m back baby. I’m back as the best version of ME. My site will now be dedicated to motivation, wellness, pharmacy and specialty pharmacy topics. Let’s heal ourselves and the practice of pharmacy.

-PP

What is compounding?

A compound is a custom medication created by the pharmacist from base ingredients for a patient.

What are the benefits to compounding?

Dose can be adjusted or customized instead of choosing the closest commercially available dose. Can create the perfect dose for a patient based on their needs, height, weight, gender, age, etc. This may reduce side effects while getting the most efficacious dose.

Commercially available medications may be made into a different dose form. Different dose forms may include tablets, capsules, ointments, creams, lozenges, oral liquid, powder, etc. Changing the dose form or route may reduce side effects or improve compliance.

May be able to create more palatable dose forms for young children and pets!

When may a pharmacy compound?

•The quantity being prepared is reasonable for filling existing prescriptions or anticipated prescriptions based on prescribing habits of local prescribers and/or prescriptions already on file

•The compounded products are not being sold to other pharmacies or third parties like a physician’s office

•The compounded product is not a compounded version of an FDA-approved drug. An exception is made if there is a shortage or no supply of a commercially available product and there is a medical need for the product. 

•The ingredients used meet the official standards found in USP/NP, are a component of an already FDA-approved drug or are on a list of approved substances developed by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

•The pharmacy does not actively promote or advertise their compounding capabilities to solicit business  

•The pharmacy does not compound a drug that has been withdrawn or removed from the market because they were unsafe or ineffective

•The pharmacy limits their interstate distribution of compounded products to not more than 5% of the total prescriptions filled at the pharmacy

Check us out on Teachable, MPJE study courses for Iowa, Maryland, Texas and Federal Law.

While on our most recent trip I started reading a New York Times Bestseller that had been on my reading list for a while, Bottle of Lies, The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom by Katherine Eban.  You GUYS! This book was intense and more than I expected.  The way Katherine investigated and wrote out the narrative is second to none.  I would recommend it to anyone working in healthcare (especially pharmacists!) and anyone working in healthcare legislation.   

Drug cost continues to be a hot topic of conversation and legislation.  The generic drug boom has been one of the most important public-health advances to aid in lowering drug costs.  We are taught that the FDA reviews an ANDA to ensure the generic has proven itself with bioequivalence studies. However, most of the generics are manufactured overseas which created a level of difficulty with conducting FDA inspections. This is the story of whistleblowers and regulators exposing fraud, falsified data and unsafe manufacturing practices that don’t meet the GMP standards.  It tells the challenges of the FDA to keep up with a boom of manufacturing plants across middle America, China, India, Africa and Brazil.  

It will leave you asking are the savings worth the risks.  What have we done in the interim to close off the loopholes that allowed subpar conditions and falsified data?  

I have gained an understanding for patients who feel concerned about trying a generic or distrust generics.  I think I will be able to better counsel patients who have concerns about having a poor reaction to a generic or reduced efficacy with a generic. I think generics have several benefits to our markets.  I plan to continue recommending generic drugs; however, I plan to be more empathetic and proactive to a patient who reports a concern with their generic. They can offer a more cost-effective product and reduce overall healthcare costs, which is desperately needed.

The ANDA Process

An ANDA (abbreviated new drug application) is submitted to the FDA for review and approval of a new generic product. The generic product must be comparable to the brand product in dose form, strength, route of administration, quality, bioavailability and indication for use. If the ANDA is acceptable and complete then the next steps include a bioavailability review, chemistry review, request for plant inspection, and labeling review. After approved, an applicant may manufacture and market the generic product. The application is considered abbreviated because the FDA does not typically require clinical testing to establish safety and efficacy since that was already established by the data the brand name drug submitted within their NDA (new drug application).