PHARMACISTS should adopt an evidence-based focus when discussing the use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) with patients, Australian Medication Safety Services, Principal Consultant, Dr Chris Alderman, believes.
In an editorial in the American Society of Consultant Pharmacy's The Senior Care Pharmacist, Alderman - who is the publication's Editor-in-Chief - said CAMs "present a range of unique challenges for health care practitioners, including pharmacists who provide care for older people".
Alderman noted that while "many pharmacists receive little or no training that would provide them with an insight into the nature of CAMs, the message that consumers send about these products is unmistakable", with US patients spending more than US$27 billion on them annually.
"This is unsettling for health care workers because we invest considerable time and professional energy in working toward guiding consumers toward safer use of conventional medicines," he said.
"In some cases, pharmacists may have adopted a philosophy essentially based on the adage, 'if you can't beat them, join them'."
Alderman noted that as overseers and custodians of therapeutic goods provided for sale to the public, pharmacists have a responsibility to exercise reasonable caution in the way they formulate recommendations for the use of various products.
"To make a recommendation for an older person to add extra medication to what may already be a complex treatment regimen, pharmacists need to exercise good professional judgment," he said.
"Though there is money to be made by selling supplements to a willing public, it is important that pharmacists should be circumspect in their interpretation of data pertaining to specific products.
"If the data do not convincingly point to a favourable risk-benefit ratio, pharmacists should not make a recommendation for consumers to use a product," Alderman added.
"If the data are insufficient, faulty, or unavailable, common sense dictates that health care professionals should forebear from endorsing a product, and, arguably, should decline to hold that product in stock at all.
"In no way disrespecting the potential benefits of CAMs, it is nevertheless advisable to expect the same evidence for safety and efficacy should apply to all products proposed for therapeutic use."
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