# Pharmacist prescribing debate \[continued\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 2, 2011, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173 "2011-08-02T12:10:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/21 "2011-08-02T20:53:15Z")
Well, if pharmacist prescribed drugs, and barbers once again did surgery, we could cut Medicare costs considerably. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/22 "2011-08-03T13:58:26Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Well, if pharmacist prescribed drugs, and barbers once again did surgery, we could cut Medicare costs considerably. I want barbers to prescribe drugs; if it hurts my hair to be cut, I want to walk away with something that will stop the pain, especially if my hair has be cut daily. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/23 "2011-08-03T14:55:49Z")
Lesson number two: don’t get high on your own supply. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/24 "2011-08-04T18:04:19Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Given that pharmacists have a demonstrated willingness to use their control over dispensing drugs as a club to beat on people they don’t like, I hope they have less authority not more in the future. And how have doctors willingness to provide abortions come out in your estimation? We have separated the prescription of drugs from the dispensation of drugs because of the conflict of interests. We don’t rweally do this anywhere else. We prohibit your mechnic from selling you the aprt that he says will fix your car, or the HVAC guy from selling you the system that he says will cool your home but drugs are different I guess. Generally speaking, pharmacists know more about drugs than doctors. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/25 "2011-08-04T19:14:07Z")
While it may be the case the the pharmacist has more specialized knowledge of the drugs and interactions etc. the pharmacist has never examined the patient, and doesn’t have a complete rundown of his medical history. Thus is missing a huge piece of information in terms of which drugs to proscribe. Unless you are telling me you want me to go into the back room drop my drawers turn my head and cough at my local K-mart, I’m going to want my physician making the prescription. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/26 "2011-08-04T22:18:38Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Generally speaking, pharmacists know more about drugs than doctors. Radiology techs generally know more about the workings of imaging devices than doctors. Physical therapists know more about their craft than the typical physician can ever hope to. Dieticians know more on average than doctors do about nutrition plans for patients. Like pharmacists, though, none of these health care workers have the training or experience to handle general medical care that physicians have. If pharmacists want to be able to prescribe drugs, they’ll require a vast amount of additional training to do so safely and effectively. In short, they’ll need to become physicians. ---
**Author:** ![zereadam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/df788c/32.png) [@zereadam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zereadam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/27 "2011-08-05T15:37:43Z")
This is very tricky.I want anyone one of you remind that pharmacists are the drug experts.Could you tell me who discover most of the drugs? Could you tell me who discover the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics of each drug? could you tell me who investigates the therapeutic effects of these drugs? could you tell me who manufacture the drugs? Could you tell me who control the quality of these drugs? You should think twice before you open your mouth to talk about!. THINK…THINK…THINK!!! This is the philosophy!. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/28 "2011-08-05T15:44:23Z")
> [@zereadam](#): > > This is very tricky.I want anyone one of you remind that pharmacists are the drug experts.Could you tell me who discover most of the drugs? Researchers in clinical pharmacology. > [@](#): > > Could you tell me who discover the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics of each drug? Researchers in clinical pharmacology. > [@](#): > > could you tell me who investigates the therapeutic effects of these drugs Researchers in clinical pharmacology along with clinicians involved in the daily practice of medicine. > [@](#): > > could you tell me who manufacture the drugs? Drug companies. > [@](#): > > Could you tell me who control the quality of these drugs? Quality assurance personnel employed by drug companies and the government. None of these activities are the province of pharmacists. > [@](#): > > You should think twice before you open your mouth to talk about!. THINK…THINK…THINK!!! This is the philosophy!. I couldn’t agree more. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/29 "2011-08-05T15:54:02Z")
> [@zereadam](#): > > Could you tell me who discover most of the drugs? That would be my cousin Stewie (though everyone calls him Mikey). Why? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/30 "2011-08-05T16:01:11Z")
What does a pharmacist really do except count pills into a bottle? A chimp could do it. I see no reason the whole job couldn’t be automated. The customer punches a button and the machine dispenses the meds. Human pharmacists are redundant. Sack the lot of them and train dogs to fetch the bubble packs. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/31 "2011-08-05T17:32:32Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What does a pharmacist really do except count pills into a bottle? If they’re competent and capable, they check that the prescription makes sense. Does it say 10 milligrams when it makes more sense that it should be .10 milligrams or 100 milligrams? Best to check the patients age and history and call the doctor, but you have to have the knowledge for that. Did the patient just give a prescription for a common antibiotic for a urinary tract infection, for example, and for a blood pressure drug with a name _extremely_ similar to the name for the drug which is prescribed as a urinary tract anesthetic? You have to know your phenazopyrids from your phenopyzadines to catch something like that.(1) In most large pharmacies, especially the chains, it seems like the chain of work begins when the prescriptions are initially reviewed by the pharmacist on duty for exactly this reason, then the job of physically packing the scripts is done by pharmacy techs and interns whose work is double-checked by the pharmacist before it’s finally dispensed. We know that there are millions of medical errors in the U.S. annually, and that an alarming number are critical or fatal. I’d be extremely curious how many of those errors are in retail (not institutional) pharmacies and how often those errors have the worst of possible repercussions. 1. Phenazopyrid is real, I made that other name up, but there are many drugs that have names remarkably similar to other drugs which do exceedingly different things, and recognizing when someone makes a human error and writes one when they probably mean the other is an important part of pharmacists’ knowledge and a strong reason why it’s so important to have a continuity of care, getting scripts from one pharmacy where they’ll keep your info on file and something like an anesthetic vs. hypotensive switch will be caught. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/32 "2011-08-05T17:37:27Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What does a pharmacist really do except count pills into a bottle? A chimp could do it. I see no reason the whole job couldn’t be automated. The customer punches a button and the machine dispenses the meds. Human pharmacists are redundant. Sack the lot of them and train dogs to fetch the bubble packs. Along with what **tumbledown** posted, there’s also checking for drug interactions, doubly so if there is more than one doctor prescribing. ---
**Author:** ![zereadam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/df788c/32.png) [@zereadam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zereadam)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/33 "2011-08-05T17:41:16Z")
do you know who is the clinical pharmacologist mean? Since you are not professional ,I can help you in thinking and interpreting better ideas.What is the name Pharmaco mean? Who are performing in manufacturing…Companies? I expect this answer from a layman like you!. Have the knowledge to talk about anything before you are going to defend anyone.But,a stupid is always a stupid because that is his destiny.If you can know about what it is ask me back? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/34 "2011-08-05T17:47:09Z")
> [@zereadam](#): > > But,a stupid is always a stupid because that is his destiny. Manifest! Manifest!!! ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/35 "2011-08-05T17:48:36Z")
> [@](#): > > But,a stupid is always a stupid That is somewhat profound, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![OneMissedPost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e7dd6/32.png) [@OneMissedPost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneMissedPost)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/36 "2011-08-05T17:49:06Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What does a pharmacist really do except count pills into a bottle? A chimp could do it. I see no reason the whole job couldn’t be automated. The customer punches a button and the machine dispenses the meds. Human pharmacists are redundant. Sack the lot of them and train dogs to fetch the bubble packs. Wow… I don’t even know where to start with this. I think \*\*tumbleddown \*\* did an excellent job describing the role of pharmacists. It seems a lot of people think replacing workers with machines is the solution to everything. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/37 "2011-08-05T17:49:35Z")
To the OP: Are you a pharmacist? In what country? You’ve only posted in this thread. Your posts here don’t convince me that you are a qualified PharmD. And I would hesitate to give you _more_ responsibility in patient care. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/38 "2011-08-05T18:16:57Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > To the OP: Are you a pharmacist? In what country? > > You’ve only posted in this thread. Your posts here don’t convince me that you are a qualified PharmD. And I would hesitate to give you _more_ responsibility in patient care. And if he _is_ a pharmacist, it would be interesting to hear what drugs he’s discovered and riddled the mechanisms of, whether he manufactures them himself (in his basement?), if he does the quality control and oversees their clinical applications, and whether in addition he flies about wearing a caped costume labeled with the letter “P”. > [@zereadam](#): > > Since you are not professional ,I can help you in thinking I’m an M.D. Give it a whirl. > [@](#): > > But,a stupid is always a stupid And a good cigar is a smoke. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/39 "2011-08-05T18:24:19Z")
My post was intended to be a whoosh, people. I was trying to satirize the OP with an absurdly opposite view. ---
**Author:** ![eddiec3434](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@eddiec3434](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eddiec3434)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173/40 "2011-08-06T10:04:29Z")
> [@zereadam](#): > > To tell you the truth,no medical doctors will be authorized to prescribe a single drug except the pharmacist.MD’s will be solely responsible for diagnosis and no more uppermost in the health system of the world.Time comes and goes …they got the upper hand because they practice it early without the full knowledge to do so.They prevent pharmacists not to practice their respective duties for much more years through different ways including using the leadership they possess in the health settings. Now is the time to break up the physicians hidden agenda of preventing the other professionals from attaining their duties and responsibilities to the maximum. Pharmacists are the future sole prescribers!!. Sometimes the the non doctor/MD gets in the way of the doctor’s wishes. I’v had doctors precribe the right combo of narcotic prescriptions for a chronic pain condition. I waited all day to get the prescription only to have the little Aisian pharmacist exert her little authority by denying the script only because she needed to employ a power trip. "Ah I sawee must varify with doktor tomorrow. She just need to show that her thankless 20 per hr. job meant something. I told her that she was nothing more than a dispensor and far from a doctor and she better fill it before I shatter all her buck teeth that stuck out at a 90 degree angle. The bottom line is the police came, since it was a Schedule 2 drug it could’nt be changed over the phone(not that there was anything to change) and I had to suffer with brain tumor pain all night(No ER within 250 miles and snowing)and as soon as the pharmacy opened at 9am problem solved. A pharmacist with a sadistic power trip. A doctor want-to-be at the expense of a legitimately suffering patient. Sorry for the whinning [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pharmacist-prescribing-debate-continued/591173.md?page=3)