Recently I identified an area of our medication policy that required some improvement due to the way that the list of medications were deemed as “controlled medications” and was such a comprehensive list that included medications that we do not use at our service along with medications that are deemed controlled by our own policies but not by government which then became restrictive to what time a service user could take their medication.
The medication in question is named zopiclone and it is used to treat individuals who are completing opiate detox to support with sleep. The new policy stated that this should be dispensed at 9pm and that the client was then required to go to bed which, for someone who was completing an opiate detox is
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As above and described in 5.3, on the back of the areas that were identified within the new medication policy and dispensing procedures I arranged a telephone conference with our head of quality department and some other managers from our other residential services to discuss the concerns that I had identified after reviewing the medication policy.
After lengthy discussions about the areas of concern and the potential risks that these presented both to staff and service users from a physical, mental and emotional perspective it was agreed that zopiclone was no longer to be classed as a controlled medication and that the service user could take this at a time of their choosing at night providing it was before the night worker finished dispensing medication which was usually about 111pm and agreed that the service user would need to go to bed within 15 minutes of taking this medication due to having a short timeframe of about 15-30 minutes where it is effective. It was also agreed that the service user would also be advised of this information to ensure that this is supportive to them through a physically difficult period whilst completing a detox.
In regards to the medication paperwork for PRN medication it was agreed that we would use our old medication dispensing form for PRN (when required) medications as this allowed staff to record the date, time and reason as to why the
are going about trying to dispense their own medications. Texas physicians have started fighting for dispensing privileges
* Have a written policy in place, which describes the local procedure for recording of unwanted medication to be returned to the pharmacist.
The guideline named opioid cumulative dosing override allows for an override for an opioid product equal to or exceeding the hard-stop threshold (60mg morphine equivalent dose) and a 7 day supply. An override will be provided for patients with one of the following conditions: diagnosis of cancer, palliative care, or sickle cell disease, patients enrolled in hospice care, or patients taking an opiate tapering regimen following an orthopedic procedure with an end date not to exceed 21 days. For all other patients, the prescriber must be aware that all of the following criteria must be met: the diagnosis for use of the opiate and reason for continued use are documented, previous trials of non-drug and/or non-opiate use are documented, the patient does not have concurrent use of benzodiazepines
The problem that was presented in my health-care policy was pertaining to oxycodone and its decrease mortality rate due to Florida’s drug monitoring program. House Bill number 1381. I will expand upon its history. Substance abuse towards prescribed
This bill will force physicians and pharmacists alike to become more vigilant in prescribing and dispensing controlled substances to not only the correct patients but those who actually need the medication. Although some of the changes are abrupt and somewhat swift in their calls to action, policy makers believe these changes are necessary in order to shift the trend facing Florida regarding prescription drug abuse.
ESSENCE OF THE STORY: In the past few years, opioid addiction has become an epidemic in the United States leading to around 64,000 people dying from drug overdose in 2016 alone. As a result the health and human services secretary, Mr. Azar, and the F.D.A. chief, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, has made battling opioid addiction a top priority. The main way the F.D.A. is attempting to battle the epidemic is by allowing pharmaceutical companies to sell new types of medications that aren’t meant to stop addiction but to help suppress the cravings of addiction. The new medication that the F.D.A is approving is supposed to be a part of the program MAT, or medication-assisted-treatment. Mr. Azar as well as Dr. Scott have been pushing for more MAT in hope to help people with addiction live productive lives. Though like most big changes in society, the F.D.A’s decision has drawn criticism. Addiction experts are saying that new medication isn’t the solution but more access to the medication is.
Health care regulations have developed in a lagging fashion throughout the history of the United States health care system. The regulations governing health care are a set of prescriptive rules that have cause the health care system to adjust and improve the quality of care provided to patients. Brennan and Berwick state, “functions for regulation aims at increasing equality in society. In health care, this sort of regulation typically involves efforts to increase access to health care.”2 These regulations have a had far-reaching effect on the safety, efficacy, cost, information, availability of medications. If a society does not have access to unadulterated medications, correctly labeled medications, and truthful information then there
Zoé Zincum was with her friends from college on spring break in Peru. She was in a spelunking accident. Her and all four of her other friends fell into a pool of mysterious liquids containing various metals and they didn’t know. There was Iron, Cobalt, Copper, Nickel and Zinc. Zoé acquired all of the powers of Zinc. Her friends acquired all the other metals powers. On their way home Zoé’s plane flew into a harmful part if the atmosphere and she got very scared because it started to get hot and they were burning alive. Zoé started protecting the whole plane soon. Once she realized she had these amazing powers, she started healing everyone who got hurt and then she used her amazing vision to see through the clouds. There was a perfect spot to get close enough that they could jump. Everyone jumped and held onto her hair so that she could dig her nails into the mountain to slow the down. Zoé helped all of these people get home safe.
Conclusion: Ultimately, a pharmacist’s role would greatly expand with the Provider Status law. In the future, all states should adapt a form of the Provider Status law. Pharmacists should be utilized to their utmost capabilities, they endured four years of education studying medications, their uses and the effects. A pharmacist’s expertise is very vital to a patient’s treatment. Eventually, pharmacists should be granted the right to prescribe
However, this medication was not covered on the patients plan and required us to submit a prior authorization form. This task required me to contact the patient’s dialysis center where I got to discuss with the patients nurse about lab values, medication history, and health conditions. I was then able to gather enough information to form an adequate justification for the patient’s use of Veltassa instead of Sodium Polystyrene Sulfonate, and began a prior authorization submission. After submitting the form to the insurance, I had to once again contact the nurse so that they could then verify and complete their portion of the prior authorization form through the web site Covermymeds.com. This encounter provided a great example of inter-professional teamwork as both parties got to understand more about each other’s role in health care. On the pharmacy side, the nurses got to see how pharmacists could help provide their insight on medications to find alternatives for patients with special circumstances. On the nurse’s side, the pharmacist can see how nurses play an important role in helping patients get the specific care needed even as the patient steps out of their workplace.
care. One of the most major concerns about narcotic medications are their uses as recreational
Michael Zomber is a renowned author, filmmaker, collector and philanthropist. He is best known as the History Channel featured historian. Zomber spends a lot of time preserving and protecting historical antiques such as the Japanese samurai sword by collecting, storing and selling the antiques. According to the website MichaelZomber.com, Zomber has been collecting antique arms and armor for over 40 years. His stories are well documented on History Channel’s “Tales of the Gun series”. The extensive series includes features such as “Dueling Pistols”, “Guns of the Famous”, “Shotguns” and “Guns of the Orient”.
In Libby, Montana, a corporation by the name of Zonolite used to mine vermiculite ore from years 1919 to 1990. Vermiculite was used in many households within Libby as well as across the United States. It’s is known to contain asbestos, which is harmful to the lungs and may cause malignant mesothelioma (1). In 1968, W.R. Grace took over the Zonolite company, being fully aware of the dangers that asbestos possess. He failed to acknowledge the workers at the Zonolite plant about asbestos. The workers of Zonolite used to work with passion, loving what they do for a living. There weren’t many jobs for a town that held less than 3,000 residence. Therefore, working for Zonolite for Libby residence was the main option for many families to have great amount of income in the household (2). Grace used to be fully involved, not only with Zonolite, but with the entire Libby community. He used to be involved with the school board, hospital board, and he even gave away vermiculite for Libby residence to use for their house installation. How can someone involved in the community be so ignorant by not publicizing that vermiculite contains asbestos? This is where Grace wanted Zonolite to dominate the vermiculite industry, regardless of the health risks involved. This shows the unethical business attributions that the Zonolite company adheres to.
Great post, In the facility that I work in, policies are changed frequently based on evidence that comes from my patient information. We implemented a policy where patients could not use the restroom for two hours after medication administration because it was found that patients would throw their medicine up in the toilet. Some of our patients were not having therapeutic results from their medication, so we had to do an investigation. It was found that patients were checking their medicine and spitting them into the toilet. Now everyone has to use the bathroom before medication administration, and the bathrooms are locked for an hour after.
The most prevalent problem in this case is whether Zespri is doing what is necessary to maintain its leadership position to increase New Zealand kiwifruit exports to $3 billion by 2025. In order to accomplish this, an additional problem they need to address is that they have to triple their global sourcing needs to satisfy demand when New Zealand fruit is out of the market. Zespri also needs to expand to more producers to develop vast amounts of kiwifruit during the off-season so that they are able to obtain their $3 billion dollar export goal.