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Comprehensive Medication Review
As time goes on, and especially as patients age, more and more prescription
drugs, vitamins, and supplements are often added to their daily drug regimens. It is not uncommon for a typical elderly patient
to be on ten or more drugs at a time. It is not always easy to keep track of which drugs are treating what and which
drugs are causing which side effects. There may even be a point where some of the drugs are no longer beneficial or at least
are doing more harm than good. And this is not to mention the cost of some of these drugs! But how would one know where
to start?
This is where comprehensive medication reviews, also known as "brown bags" come in handy. Comprehensive
medication reviews started when patients would bring in all of their pill bottles to the pharmacy in a brown bag, sit down
with the pharmacist, dump out the bottles, and ask for help with their medication therapy management.
We at Rxtra Care still think that this is a great idea. As pharmacists, we are the experts on drug
therapy. If you are having trouble keeping your medications straight, experiencing side effects from your prescriptions to
the point where you don't want to take them anymore, or if you are simply wondering if you really need to be on all of those
drugs, you might consider a comprehensive medication review. You can make an appointment to have a pharmacist's undivided
attention for a given amount of time (a typical session usually lasts 30 minutes, but we will talk with you as long as you
need) where we can discuss what you're taking, why, how it's helping or not helping, what side effects are bothering you,
how to reduce those side effects, and what changes we recommend you and your doctor make in your drug therapy--whether that's
an addition or deletion of treatment. The charge for a 30-minute session is $50. Call us to schedule an appointment,
or for more information.
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