I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I, for one, made a roast chicken instead of a turkey and have no regrets, though my nieces were less than pleased.
A fun thing about journalism is that it gives you an excuse to be a professional eavesdropper, at least online (or on the Acela). I like to justify my time on Reddit by lurking on the subreddits (basically forums) devoted to medicine and health care. As you might expect, they're filled with stories of overwork and burnout, and fantasies of leaving residency behind to work for the Post Office. ("For God's sake, as a former mail carrier, this is the worst idea I've ever heard," one person responded. I think about this eight-month-old thread regularly.)
But some of the roughest, most desperate-sounding posts from the health care industry come from pharmacists, particularly those working for the big chains. On their subreddit, they commiserate about working shifts without any backup, difficult customers, lack of support from management, and Christmas music. Their complaints (except, perhaps, the Christmas music part) have manifested in recent walkouts by pharmacists.
I have been trying for some time to find a pharmacist to write a first-person essay about the challenges of their job right now, but unsurprisingly, the potential professional ramifications make people uneasy about sharing their grievances.
That's why I was delighted to get a submission recently from Stephen Buck, a pharmaceutical supply chain expert. His piece, published this week, argues for a simple change that could make life easier for the struggling pharmacists: Instead of picking up 30- or 90-day prescriptions for maintenance medications, he says, customers should start getting six- or 12-month supplies. That would sharply reduce the number of prescriptions pharmacists have to fill each day. "I once managed a pharmacy that provided six- and 12-month cash prescriptions to patients, and I can say that it works well once providers are educated about the option to prescribe extended quantities. Now, as a patient who now gets a 12-month supply of medication from a retail warehouse pharmacy, I absolutely love it. My doctor does, too — and, I bet, so do the pharmacists who only have to see me once a year," he writes.
Also in First Opinion this week: Phyllis Vine, author of "Fighting for Recovery: An Activist's History of Mental Health Reform," remembers Rosalynn Carter and the tremendous work she did on mental health reform. Former Sen. Richard Burr writes that the FDA is at a crossroads on cell and gene therapies: "Its risk-averse approach and culture that's slow to adapt to new science could become a curse for many patients and the scientific field as a whole, with investment in biotech chilling in recent quarters." Rep. Raul Ruiz, a physician, warns about the shortage of infectious disease doctors. Hospices are struggling to handle the growing number of patients with metabolic condition-related wounds. Jeffrey Okoro, executive director of CFK Africa, writes about going from growing up in one of Africa's largest informal settlements to helping heal it.
And on the "First Opinion Podcast," I spoke with Mara Buchbinder, a researcher, and her husband, Jesse Summers, who recently learned from advanced testing that his colon cancer may be back. We discussed "patients in waiting," Stoicism, caretaking, and more.
Recommendation of the week: I'm a sucker for a podcast about sketchy wellness products. A recent episode of "The Opportunist" dives into the story of mud — yes, mud — that was supposed to cure, well, everything. It will make for great listening while stuck in traffic today.
No comments