The Bare Necessities

A while ago, I happened to come across a newspaper article in which an undercover journalist posing as a patient approached various pharmacies with three "seemingly simple" questions. Four pharmacy chains and an independent were targeted and perhaps the most shocking revelation was the fact that none of them had advised the "patient", on selling them a paracetamol-containing cold remedy and a packet of paracetamol, to not take them at the same time. Though it is perfectly OK for the sale to occur, the advice that the patient must not take them simultaneously is vital.

This kind of sale is incredibly commonplace, with pain medication in the form of paracetamol, often considered the "safe" drug, being one of the biggest sellers in community pharmacies, especially for headaches. Cold remedies are also on the list, making the combination of cold remedies and paracetamol together a very possible request from a patient.

Of course, five pharmacies out of the 13,000 pharmacies in the UK is not at all representative of the high quality of service many of them provide. However, an error is an error. If this were to happen to an actual patient who isn't aware of the dangers of paracetamol toxicity, it could result in extensive liver failure. Have things reached a point where pharmacists are doing so much more than just dispensing and selling medication that they sometimes forget the basics?

More importantly, I'd like to have seen what the outcome would've been if the same investigation happened in a petrol station or supermarket. The fact that these products can be sold in such places, where the person serving will likely not have a clue about the dangers of paracetamol toxicity, should be enough, I think, to justify giving such workers very basic training on this kind of thing, funded by the owner of such establishments. The bare necessities of medicine won't come to you, you should go to them. Isn't that what CPD is all about?