Complementary Medicines in Pharmacy
July 28, 2014
OVER two-thirds of Australians
regularly use Complementary
Medicines (CMs) as part of their
healthcare regime. This contributes
to an industry turnover in excess
of $1.8 billion spent in Australia
on CMs each year. Interestingly,
most CMs in Australia are sold
from community pharmacies, yet
many pharmacists report being
uncomfortable when dealing with
CM-related enquiries and believe
they lack sufficient knowledge and
expertise to appropriately advise
their customers on CM-related
topics. The end result is that
many CMs, even those sold within
pharmacies, are sold without
professional guidance or advice.
Recent Australian research
has suggested that CMs and
prescription medicines are taken
concurrently by a substantial
proportion of pharmacy customers
– equating to a significant risk of
deleterious CM-drug interactions.
This research also suggested that
many pharmacy customers believe
that pharmacists should provide
safety information about CMs,
be conversant with evidence of
efficacy, and routinely check for
CM-drug interactions. However,
most pharmacists are currently
inadequately prepared for these
tasks.
Due to their level of consumer
trust and their prime market
position, pharmacists are in a
unique positon to provide guidance
on OTC CM products and help
mitigate potential deleterious CMdrug
interactions, but they will be
able to do so only if they improve
their knowledge and confidence
in the field of Complementary
Medicine.
This week’s
contributor is Dr
Jason Hawrelak,
Snr Lecturer in
Complementary
& Alternative Medicine at the
School of Medicine, University of
Tasmania
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