Showing posts with label pharmacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pharmacy. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Fish Oil Reviews - The Evidence Behind Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements

Like many individuals, my day starts with an eagerly awaited trip to the kitchen after a quick hop in the shower. By this time, the alarm clock haze has finally worn off long enough to realize the neurotic taste buds in my mouth are going crazy. They need their morning bowl of cinnamon oatmeal with mixed berries or else!

In the past, I'd always follow breakfast with a handful of vitamins and some fish oil supplements before heading out the door. I was off to fill prescriptions and make the world a healthier place! As a pharmacist, I dispense pills and educate others on all the benefits they have to offer, including a few over-the-counter supplements. Fish oil is one of these supplements. In school I learned that pills equal health. Pharmacists dispense pills. Therefore, pharmacists dispense health.

Since I am the expert on pills, I deem it my responsibility to keep up with the scientific literature behind all of these pills as best I can. After all, medicine is a constantly changing environment and if you snooze you lose (and so do your patients). Today I present you with the evidence behind fish oil supplements, known widely for benefiting cardiovascular health and many other chronic diseases, or so they say.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The False Hope Of Prescription Medications - A Pharmacist Tells All

For every ailment in today's world there is a pill. A solution in the form of a capsule or tablet or liquid with a concoction of chemicals inside designed to "cure" our misfortunes. Big Pharma has made their mark. As a pharmacist who's been in the medical field for over 10 years, I actually find this quite concerning given the pharmaceutical companys' primary motives for financial growth with little to no regard for patient safety and outcomes. The television commercials say it all. Drug companies are here to market, profit, and prosper off of sick people. You're of no value to them if you're in good health. This might be all well and good if the end goal was truly a nation, or a world, full of vibrant, healthy people who occasionally needed the help of Big Pharma to get back on their feet. But it's not. We live in an era where pill popping is the norm and weight issues and chronic diseases reign supreme. A quick look at the numbers confirms what we already know.

In 2011, a total of 4.02 billion prescriptions were dispensed at a grand total of $319.9 billion [1,2]. In case you were wondering, this amounts to approximately 12.9 prescriptions for every man, women, and child living in the U.S. at a cost of roughly $1,026.68 per year per person. Most of this isn't hitting our pocket books, not directly anyway. Insurance companies pay for the majority of the costs. In 2011, the average copay for 75% of all prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. was $10 or less thanks to the increasing availability of generic medications and prescription drug coverage [1]. I could write an entire book on the statistics behind the legalized drug world, but I'll stop for now. If you care to look into the subject any further you can read the IMS Institute for Health Informatics report here.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

This Is Your Brain On [Psychotropic] Drugs


Life is full of emotions. Happy. Sad. Nervous. Frightened. Excited. Depressed. Crazy. Anxious. All of these are a normal part of life. Everyone experiences these emotions at one point or another.

At times these emotions may lend themselves to be more intense than at other times. I've experienced this myself in life. I remember the overwhelming sense of joy I felt when I finally graduated college and landed my first job. That was an incredible high for me. I can also remember being at the lowest of lows in life just a few years prior as pharmacy school and my personal life seemed to come crashing down on me. That was an awful feeling that seemed to last forever and something I never want to experience again. When times like these come in life we often turn to those closest to us to share in our experiences—good, bad, or ugly. Our friends and family are our personal counselors.

Today, however, every emotion has been labeled as a "disease" or "disorder". Every human being walking the face of the planet is mentally ill, according to the drug manufacturers anyway. These greedy business entities have designed a system where they profit off of everyday life experiences of people. Depressed because of a breakup or loss of a loved one? Big Pharma deems you as having major depressive disorder. Anxious when you attend new functions and meet new people? You have social anxiety disorder. Have a typical, energetic 6 year old who can't sit still in class for hours on end (because everyone knows that little kids are supposed to be able to do this)? Your child is suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

The Shocking Cure For Crohn's Disease, Asthma, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, & Every Other Chronic Disease



Let me start this post by giving you fair warning... if you don't like sarcasm stop reading now. You probably won't like this post and will get easily offended by it's simplistic nature and the rather harsh approach I take in delivering it's message. Just in case you were wondering... My goal here is not to be liked. My goal here is to tell people what they need to hear in order for them to get better.

Now I'm going to share a story with you. A story about how to cure Crohn's disease, asthma, chronic fatigue syndrome, and basically any other type of chronic disease you and/or the rest of the world may be suffering from. You want to know the secret? Get ready. Wait for it... wait for it... wait for it...


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Lessons From A Pharmacist - I Get A Big, Fat Paycheck While You Stay Sick


Hi. My name is Dustin Rudolph. I've been a practicing pharmacist for over 10 years now, and I'm here to tell you something you may not like hearing. I get a BIG, FAT paycheck every two weeks while YOU (or at least the vast majority of you) stay sick. To put it bluntly, I get rich off of your misery.

Why does this happen? It happens because I, along with the rest of my colleagues in the medical field, practice profit-based medicine. We put profits before patients.

If this makes you angry then good. If this disappoints you then good. If you're a fellow colleague of mine and me calling it like it is pisses you off then good. Quite frankly, I don't give a damn how it makes you feel as long as it makes you feel something. That way I know I've fulfilled my purpose in writing this article because maybe, just maybe, you'll do something about those feelings which will positively influence how you live your life from this point forward.