The Arizona Republic - 05/01/2019
16 Z7 ❚ MIDWEEK, 05.01.19 ❚ AZCENTRAL.COM
Your spring cleaning
should also include
medication inventory
Your Turn
Malia Daehler and Mary Merrill
Guest columnists
As you’re going through your annual
spring cleaning, one thing you may con-
sider is taking inventory of your family’s
prescription medications. Do you have
expired prescriptions you no longer
need? Many fire and police stations will
accept medications for safe disposal.
It’s also a good time to organize a list
of the medications in your family’s
medicine cabinet, in case there’s a med-
ical emergency.
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If you or a family member were
rushed to the hospital, would a loved
one be able to provide a current list of
your medications to first responders or
the emergency department? What if it
was your child or parent? Would you
know the names and dosages of their
prescriptions? How about any non-pre-
scription medications?
Not having this information may
cause a delay in care, as paramedics or
hospital staff try to confirm current
medications before providing that in-
formation to the physician. A lack of up-
to-date medical information may lead to
avoidable medication errors or adverse
drug reactions.
At Abrazo West Campus and its sister
Abrazo Health hospitals throughout the
Valley, we are working hard to reduce er-
rors by reconciling patients’ medication
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history and regimen every time there
are changes. This is critical so we can
help patients avoid adverse effects from
dosing errors, omissions, duplications
and drug interactions.
Here are a few things you can do now
to help:
Keep a historical record. This ap-
plies to you, along with your spouse and
children, and it’s a good idea to ask your
parents to do the same, especially if you
may be called to assist them with a
health crisis.
You may prefer to document your
medications on paper, but a simple In-
ternet search will reveal several apps
that are compatible with both iPhone
and Android smartphones. Be sure to
include:
❚ Allergies to both medications and
foods and the type of reaction (e.g.,
hives, rash, vomiting, diarrhea, difficul-
ty breathing).
❚ Medical history. This may include
chronic conditions or recent illnesses.
❚ Medications, including name, pre-
scribing doctor and pharmacy, date
started, dosage and whether it was
completed or is ongoing.
❚ Name and dates of immunizations.
❚ Vitamin supplements, herbal rem-
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such as cough medicine or topical solu-
tions. Remember to be specific regard-
ing dosage.
❚ Other pertinent health informa-
tion. For example, you may not be aller-
gic to a certain medication but you had a
negative experience, such as an upset
stomach.
Update the list when changes oc-
cur. It may sound cumbersome, but it’s
important to keep your list current.
Even the slightest change, such as add-
ing a vitamin supplement, should be
noted. Here are some suggestions:
Date your list each time you make a
change.
Ask your pharmacist to print out a
list of medications filled in the last
year. This is particularly helpful if you
use more than one pharmacy for your
medications.
Make sure someone in your family
or circle of friends knows where you
keep this list.
Time is precious, but do yourself and
your family a favor by putting medica-
tion reconciliation at the top of your to-
do list this spring.
Malia Daehler is director of pharma-
cy and Mary Merrill is clinical pharma-
cy manager at Abrazo West Campus in
Goodyear.
602-271-7000, www.rootsofcreation-
.com.
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