BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY Community pharmacists' role in the sale and supply of emergency hormonal contraception (EHC) represents an opportunity to increase EHC availability and utilise pharmacists' expertise but little is known about pharmacists' attendant ethical concerns. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were undertaken with 23 UK pharmacists to explore their views and ethical concern...

BACKGROUND Prescribing and dispensing of medicines are fundamental processes in providing healthcare for both human and animal patients. There has been recent discussion in the literature to advocate for increased co-operation between pharmacists and veterinarians, however there is little data available about veterinary prescribing and dispensing processes. OBJECTIVE The aims of this study we...

BACKGROUND Studies around the world have shown that interactions between pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists and physicians have a great influence on prescribing and drug dispensing practices. In middle-income countries, the nature and extent of these interactions have not been well researched. Our objectives were to qualitatively explore the nature of the interactions between pharmaceutical ...

BACKGROUND Substitute prescribing has increased in Scotland, as in the rest of the UK. Both GPs and pharmacists are becoming increasingly involved in service provision for drug misusers, but anecdotal evidence has suggested considerable variation in prescribing and dispensing practice. OBJECTIVE We aimed to gain baseline data on (i) current prescribing practice by medical practitioners and dr...

OBJECTIVE To investigate community pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and habits with regard to antibiotic dispensing without medical prescription in Spain. METHODS A qualitative research using focus group method (FG) in Galicia (north-west Spain). FG sessions were conducted in the presence of a moderator. A topic script was developed to lead the discussions, which were audiorecor...

OBJECTIVE To assess Wisconsin pharmacists' knowledge of and attitudes toward the use of opioid analgesics in the management of chronic cancer and noncancer pain, and to explore the potential for these beliefs to interfere with pharmacist dispensing, the last link of the distribution chain of controlled substances to patients. DESIGN Mail survey. SETTING Urban and rural pharmacies, long-term...

BACKGROUND In the Netherlands, 5.6 % of acute hospital admissions are medication-related. Almost half of these admissions are potentially preventable. Reviewing medication in patients at risk in primary care might prevent these hospital admissions. At present, implementation of medication reviews in primary care is suboptimal: pharmacists lack access to patient information, pharmacists are shor...

OBJECTIVES Pharmacists are one of the crucial focal points for health care in the community. They have tremendous outreach to the public as pharmacies are often the first-port-of-call. With the increase of ready-to-use drugs, the main health-related activity of a pharmacist today is to assure the quality of dispensing, a key element to promote rational medicine use. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cr...

BACKGROUND Cancer drugs are high risk drugs and medication errors in their prescribing, preparation and administration have serious consequences, including death. The importance of a multidisciplinary approach and the benefits of pharmacists' contribution to cancer treatment to minimise risk have been established. However, the impact of services provided by pharmacists to cancer patient care is...

To better understand the pharmacy medication dispensing process and its relationship with packaging and labeling, two studies were conducted: one was a contextual inquiry involving the interview of 13 experienced pharmacists and pharmacy technicians; the other was a usability test of 30 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians specifically related to a particular product family in a simulated pharm...