Pharmacy Daily | Pharmacists key to fighting addiction

A PARTICIPANT in the new HBO documentary, ‘Heroin: Cape Cod USA’, says that pharmacists are integral to the battle against rising opiate addiction and dependencies. “If we see that patient standing before us, seeking their oxycodone 30mg tab #240 to be filled 14-days early, as a “hopeless junkie”, and dispense the prescription anyway without discussion or question, it is us pharmacists failing to provide adequate care for those “hopeless junkies,” explains pharmacist Lauren Heroux- Camirand in an article published on modernmedicine.com. “We must act on opportunities as they arise,” she said. “When an opiate-naive patient presents a prescription of a high dose, long-term supply narcotic, we need to ask questions...most importantly, we need to listen. “They were not dirty, street-scum crackheads. They are someone’s child, parent, brother or sister,” said Heroux-Camirand. The documentary, which follows eight young addicts in Cape Cod Massachusetts USA, investigates the beginnings of opiate addiction, claiming that 80% of heroine users started with prescription painkillers following an accident or surgery. To read Heroux-Camirand’s full opinion piece on responsible patient care, visit drugtopics. modernmedicine.com.

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