Doctors prescribe medicine to thin blood. Patients swallow the pills, along with vitamins and garlic supplements, because their neighbor touts the benefits of herbal therapies.
For a headache, the person pops a couple of aspirin.
Wait a second.
The person taking that combination of pills could be headed for a bad reaction. Garlic shouldn’t be taken with blood thinners or aspirin, according to health resources.caremark.com. Large quantities of garlic may also interfere with migraine medication.
Why didn’t the doctor warn the patient about these interactions?
Perhaps the doctor didn’t have time, possibly didn’t know about garlic and aspirin, or the patient didn’t mention they take over-the-counter pills as well as products from a health food store.
Pharmacist Michelle Valentine said some natural remedies can clash with prescription and nonprescription drugs, sometimes with severe consequences. She devised an entrepreneurial venture to keep folks from swallowing dangerous combinations.
Valentine will make house calls, for $60 an hour and a $10 to $25 gas fee, and analyze prescriptions, vitamins, over-the-counter medications, TV wonder drugs and herbs that are in the home.
She doesn’t prescribe. That isn’t her mission.
Elizabeth Taylor of Lake Stevens (yes, that’s her real name), who has bone cancer, used Valentine’s service. She said she wanted to make sure she was taking the right mix of medications, and get suggestions about conquering pain.
“My pharmacist is always busy,” Taylor said. “If you go to the drugstore instead of calling, the whole community is there getting their meds.”
My dearly departed Grandma Julia could have used Valentine’s expertise. Grandma was one of those people with drawers of bottles, shelves of potions, old prescriptions, cabinets stuffed with drugs, and no one could sort out what she was supposed to be taking.
After Valentine checks your cupboards and compiles her report, she sends it to the client and all applicable doctors. She said she hopes that her conclusions will be clipped to the patient’s chart so it can be reviewed with a physician.
She said she doesn’t think doctors will pooh-pooh her input.
“I think they will be amenable,” Valentine said. “It’s an icebreaker for the patient.”
During busy examinations, doctors can check out Valentine’s recommendations. Maybe the patient is taking two blood pressure meds and could do as well on only one. That could save the patient money.
When folks get prescriptions filled, there is little need to worry about drugstores that check drug interactions online. But three years ago, for insurance reasons, I got prescriptions at two different pharmacies.
No one drugstore knew everything I was taking. And nobody had any idea what I downed from health food stores or infomercials singing the praises of weight-loss products.
If Valentine visited my home, she would look at my medicine cabinet, kitchen counter and night stand, then tell me privately what I should and should not be taking.
“One thing I am almost obsessive about is seeing all the products a patient has access to,” Valentine said. “I see everything in the medicine chest, on the countertop, in the drawer, where products may be kept ‘just in case’ something comes up in the middle of the night and the patient can’t reach help immediately.”
Valentine, 57, has been a pharmacist for 35 years. She lives in Mukilteo with her husband, Mark, and a rat terrier named Roscoe. They have two sons, 20 and 21 years old. She engineers a monthly radio program on KSER called “LWV’s Magazine on the Air” for the Snohomish County League of Women Voters.
She volunteers for Evergreen Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, the Snohomish County Medical Reserve Corps, and works part-time for Hadfield’s Pharmacy in Edmonds.
Her consultation service would make a practical gift for someone who has everything. Send her to visit Uncle Fred’s house to check out prescription and over-the-counter bottles.
Elizabeth Taylor said she understands the benefit of a Valentine consultation.
“I feel much more relaxed, even if she’s endorsing, that’s a plus, too,” Taylor said. “For anybody not sure of their meds, it’s a good way to check it.”
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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