chemist refused to sell cough syrup!

GlasweJen

feelinggood wrote: »

I only worked as a counter assisstant in a pharmacy for a short time, and the questions were all there for a reason. The amount of people who asked for medications that were unsuitable for their use was amazing. If people read the infomation leaflets that came with medications, and followed the instructions, the questions wouldn't need to be asked.

I work as an MCA at the moment and some of the stuff you hear is brilliant. I actually had a man once ask me for a canestan pessary, so went through the 2wham questions as per protocol (we did buttercups course) conversation went like this.

man: canestan pessary please
me: who's it for?
man: myself
me: oh.....right.....are you sure you've got the right product sir?
man: yes definately
me: pessaries are for women, can I ask your symptoms please?
man: it's definately thrush, my girlfriend got this from the doctor and it worked so that's what I want
me: yes but sir pessaries are for women
man: (getting aggressive) oh what pc nonsense is this, i just want to buy medicine. who decides if a medicine is for a man or woman, i mean it works doesn't it!
me: well yes, of course it does but pessaries go in the vagina sir.
man: oh........well, what do men use?

trying to keep a straight face was very difficult.

Also I noticed someone say about OTC sudafed and the shop floor stuff, they're actually completely different medicines. OTC stuff is dangerous for people with heart conditions and the law restricts how much you can sell because it's used to make crystal meth.

GlasweJen

Curious_George wrote: »

GlasweJen - thanks for your reply, i guess seeing it like that makes sense but if they are the new rules then all cough mix should be off the shelf everywhere or its pointless!

The ones on the shop floor are either a different formula (like plain glycerol) in a similar box or have to have the new up to date packaging stating only suitable for over 6 (or over 12 in some cases). Any muppet who decides to pick it up and give it to their 4 year old does it at their own risk. Any good parent would take the advice and get their child checked by a doctor who can then prescribe appropriately rather than relying on the brand that their friends neighbours dog used last time that helped.

Savvy_Sue

GlasweJen, that is hysterical!

Curious_George_2

GlasweJen wrote: »

The ones on the shop floor are either a different formula (like plain glycerol) in a similar box or have to have the new up to date packaging stating only suitable for over 6 (or over 12 in some cases). Any muppet who decides to pick it up and give it to their 4 year old does it at their own risk. Any good parent would take the advice and get their child checked by a doctor who can then prescribe appropriately rather than relying on the brand that their friends neighbours dog used last time that helped.

im not sure if your having a pop at me here or not
i dont consider myself to be a "muppet" for giving my son the same cough syrup now as i did 5 minutes before the rules changed!
no more than i worried about eating a ham sandwich while pregnant and the rules suddenly changed about being allowed them too...

As a matter of fact I am a good parent and if the boy actually had something wrong with him or i was in any way concerned then i would have taken him to see the doctor straight away but as far as im aware they cant do anything to cure a runny nose and a little case of the sniffles and i dont think wasting their time with such trivial matters helps anyone,
nor do i think your suggestion that i would pump the child full of any old medicine was very helpful either but this is exactly the kind of holier than thou attitude that earns chemist staff their reputation in the first place.

patchwork_cat

GlasweJen wrote: »

I work as an MCA at the moment and some of the stuff you hear is brilliant. I actually had a man once ask me for a canestan pessary, so went through the 2wham questions as per protocol (we did buttercups course) conversation went like this.

man: canestan pessary please
me: who's it for?
man: myself
me: oh.....right.....are you sure you've got the right product sir?
man: yes definately
me: pessaries are for women, can I ask your symptoms please?
man: it's definately thrush, my girlfriend got this from the doctor and it worked so that's what I want
me: yes but sir pessaries are for women
man: (getting aggressive) oh what pc nonsense is this, i just want to buy medicine. who decides if a medicine is for a man or woman, i mean it works doesn't it!
me: well yes, of course it does but pessaries go in the vagina sir.
man: oh........well, what do men use?

trying to keep a straight face was very difficult.

Also I noticed someone say about OTC sudafed and the shop floor stuff, they're actually completely different medicines. OTC stuff is dangerous for people with heart conditions and the law restricts how much you can sell because it's used to make crystal meth.

This is part of the problem isn't it why medicines are being more controlled. For example a few years ago we were trying to get some items to make bath bombs, but the problem was they were being used to cut drugs and therefore they weren't that easy to get hold of. Also some one mention Kaolin and morph which we were told was no longer available by our local pharmacy as it was being abused .

Indie_Kid

GlasweJen wrote: »

I work as an MCA at the moment and some of the stuff you hear is brilliant. I actually had a man once ask me for a canestan pessary, so went through the 2wham questions as per protocol (we did buttercups course) conversation went like this.

man: canestan pessary please
me: who's it for?
man: myself
me: oh.....right.....are you sure you've got the right product sir?
man: yes definately
me: pessaries are for women, can I ask your symptoms please?
man: it's definately thrush, my girlfriend got this from the doctor and it worked so that's what I want
me: yes but sir pessaries are for women
man: (getting aggressive) oh what pc nonsense is this, i just want to buy medicine. who decides if a medicine is for a man or woman, i mean it works doesn't it!
me: well yes, of course it does but pessaries go in the vagina sir.
man: oh........well, what do men use?

This is pretty much why when asking someone in the chemist about medication, I will always say "do you have anything for..." as it does save being asked embarrassing questions. The last time I asked "do you have anything for...", it was just "are you on anything, if so what?" and that was it.

NualaBuala

Curious_George wrote: »

im not sure if your having a pop at me here or not
i dont consider myself to be a "muppet" for giving my son the same cough syrup now as i did 5 minutes before the rules changed!
no more than i worried about eating a ham sandwich while pregnant and the rules suddenly changed about being allowed them too...

As a matter of fact I am a good parent and if the boy actually had something wrong with him or i was in any way concerned then i would have taken him to see the doctor straight away but as far as im aware they cant do anything to cure a runny nose and a little case of the sniffles and i dont think wasting their time with such trivial matters helps anyone,
nor do i think your suggestion that i would pump the child full of any old medicine was very helpful either but this is exactly the kind of holier than thou attitude that earns chemist staff their reputation in the first place.

Of course you're not a muppet! Just a good loving parent who wants the best for your children.:T

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but there is a very good reason for the rule change. When those medicines were introduced, there weren't the same stringent trials needed as we have today to prove efficacy and safety. Also, trials aren't conducted on children. But evidence is being gathered all the time and showed that some products were not safe for under 6's.

I think if the rule change hadn't been made when the evidence came to light, we'd all (rightly so) be very angry.

As an aside, I'm not a fan of most cough bottles - I don't think they're effective and homemade remedies are just as good and cheaper.

mumOf2wonderfulkids

kingfisherblue wrote: »

Incidentally, I once had an A&E nurse at a major children's hospital tell me that I should have given my son ibuprofen instead of bringing him into the hospital - I pointed out that as he has unstable asthma, plus a condition that mimics asthma, ibuprofen is not recommended. Also, as I have a severe allergy to ibuprofen (and I carry two Epipens for it), my GP has advised me not to give it to any of my three children without medical advice.

my ds has athsma, and would regularly pick up all the bugs going around.
he has been in hospital a few times as when he gets a bug his athsma gets really bad.
now, my dr has never said anything to me about ibroprofen and athsma, i think i read it on the net somewhere.
then i promptly realised that whenever he got poorly we would give him calprofen!! :eek:
since we have realised this (and chucked out the calprofen!) his athsma hasn't been half as bad when he gets a bug!

not to mention the time ds had a condition (which was classed as a medical emergency!) that needed imediate antibiotics as the condition can progress on to meningitis, we took him to A&E and the consultant sent us home with antihistamines! (not suitable for children under 1 year when he was 6 months old! :mad:)