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US Pharm.
2007;32(10):1.
I think most Editors-in-Chief of any
magazine will readily admit that one of the absolute joys of their job is
receiving letters from their readers. It is no different for me. As you know,
U.S. Pharmacist is a peer-reviewed clinical magazine, and the format does
not really lend itself to a "Letters to the Editor" page. Most of the letters
I receive are in response to my monthly editorial. Rest assured, even though
we don't publish them, I read and save every one … well, almost every one. A
small portion of the mail I receive makes no point at all and tends to be the
ranting of pharmacists who have filled one too many prescriptions or missed
one too many bathroom breaks. However, having been a retail pharmacist for
many years, I take no offense to receiving and reading these seemingly endless
cathartic outpourings of anger.
I received a fair amount of
e-mail over a column I titled "The Human Side of Pharmacy."
This was a nostalgic look at the "good ole days" of pharmacy when things were
a bit simpler. Pharmacist Paul, a 1958 graduate, added to the list of
nostalgic items I fondly remembered. These included "less than $3/hour" and
"doctor's home telephone number on prescription blanks." Pharmacist Bob, a
1973 graduate, added a "triangle pill counter," "labels without adhesive,"
"addressograph machines," and the "universal claim form."
Another column that drew a lot
of attention was titled "Whatever Happened to Customer Service?" Pharmacist
Robert wrote: "These days pharmacists are nothing more than a mat on which
everyone just wipes their feet." In the end, he and many other pharmacists who
have written to me over the years blame themselves for the position they've
put themselves in. He wrote of having a personal medical emergency at his
store. As he was being taken out on a stretcher, customers were handing him
prescriptions to be filled and picked up later. Funny, you say? Not really. I
had the unfortunate experience of seeing my store burn down to the ground.
With flames shooting out from every angle, a customer tapped me on my shoulder
and asked me when he could come back to pick up his prescription. So, Robert,
I relived my experience through your e-mailed story.
In another column, I was
somewhat critical of the chain drug store industry and said it was "time for
action, not talk." Chain pharmacist John said that the chain executives he
works for just don't listen to their pharmacist employees. He wrote, "If they
did, there would never have been drive-through windows. Just talk into the
clown nose and would you like fries with your prescriptions?" Time for that
potty break, John?
Finally,
one column that received an unusually large amount of mail was my praise for
pharmacy technicians and the unfair treatment they received on ABC's
20/20 some months ago. To my pleasant surprise, many of the letters came
from pharmacy technicians themselves thanking me for defending them as a group
and voicing that they should not be held accountable for one or two rotten
apples. One pharmacist who never signed his or her name wasn't so kind. He
wrote, "I have worked with pharmacy technicians who believe they are equal to
the pharmacist in terms of knowledge and professional expertise. [Some]
actually had the nerve to argue with the pharmacist in front of the customer
about the best advice to give." Obviously I don't condone this behavior from
any employee. But I still maintain that the majority of trained, certified
pharmacy technicians have been nothing but an asset to the practice of
pharmacy.
Thanks for all the letters.
Please keep them coming. I love opening my "e-mailbag" to read what you have
to say.
Harold E. Cohen, R. Ph.
Editor-in-Chief
hcohen@jobson.com
To comment on this article, contact
editor@uspharmacist.com.
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