Is it ok for a pharmacist to recommend an over the counter product to pharmacy customers? How about an entire organization or group of pharmacies that decides to make a deal with a supplement company to promote certain products? Those questions came to mind as I read an interesting international story out of Australia late last night.
According to this article I found from The Sydney Morning Herald there is a unique collaboration that has just been announced by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA). They just signed a deal with a over the counter supplement company named Blackmores to recommend their dietary supplements to certain patients picking up prescription products. And the deal is raising questions about whether the pharmacies involved are simply putting profits over patient care.
So I thought I’d share this story and ask everyone what they thought about this news topic. Should pharmacies be promoting over the counter medications on this kind of level? Is patient care the top priority here or is this just an attempt at profits by the member pharmacies in the Pharmacy Guild of Australia? Is an affiliation with a supplement company appropriate for a pharmacy or organization?
Community pharmacy has always included this sort of product promotional role. Pharmacists can’t help but recommend over the counter medications for patients with certain minor health issues and problems. And promoting the sale of over the counter products can help stabilize the bottom line for pharmacies. But profits aren’t usually the motivation behind those recommendations.
But this deal by the PGA with the supplement company is unprecedented. Not only will there be a prompt incorporated into the filling software of the pharmacies involved in this deal that will recommend OTC products to complement certain prescriptions but the PGA seal of approval will also appear right on the supplement bottles. This takes promoting over the counter products to a level I’ve never experienced in my eleven years of practice in the community setting. It is the equivalent of many pharmacies endorsing one particular brand of supplement over others. Should pharmacies engage in these sorts of business deals?
And some natural questions arise when hearing about this kind of a business deal between a supplement company and an association of pharmacies. Is this appropriate for community pharmacy practice? Does this equate to a simple quest for the almighty dollar or by contrast is this providing good customer service? Should actual business deals be formed between any company selling a product and pharmacies or pharmacy organizations? These are interesting questions to consider.
And just in case there wasn’t going to be any controversy surrounding this sort of business deal there is a quote from the head of the supplement company involved in the deal that seems to be stirring the pot even more for the PGA. Christine Holgate, the chief executive for Blackmores, was reported as saying their company could provide “the Coke and fries” for customers with their prescription order. She went on to add that the deal is “a new and important revenue stream” for the pharmacies involved according to that Sydney Morning Herald article.
What is interesting about this article is the reported criticism of this deal by doctors and consumer groups that warn this could turn pharmacies into “McDonalds-like businesses.” I can tell the PGA one thing: we are already experimenting with McDonalds-like pharmacies in the United States and the results are disastrous for everyone involved including patients and pharmacy staffs everywhere. I suggest you run away from anything that even remotely equates your community pharmacy practice setting with a fast food business model! The results you will get will be terrible!
I couldn’t help but wonder if we are that far away from a similar deal happening in the United States? Would this sort of thing be endorsed by say the APhA? Or could a deal between a supplement company and one of the big chains come to pass soon with similar features to this PGA deal? Who knows but it does give the appearance that pharmacists are more interested in profits than patient care, which to me is sending a bad message to patients. Even if it isn’t true and pharmacists will continue to be responsible and only recommend products to patients based on their individual needs this deal does raise questions about hoe appropriate this kind of deal is for PGA. I still feel those pharmacists will simply ignore those prompts and recommend products appropriately to their patients.
More and more healthcare is becoming commercialized. And there is a focus on not just patient care but a means to survive as a business by the likes of pharmacies all across the globe. So is a deal between a large group of pharmacies and a supplement company a good idea and a sign of the times? Or is this a simple matter of profits over patients and the further deterioration of community pharmacy in general? What do you think?
The Redheaded Pharmacist
The Redheaded Pharmacist has been working full time in retail pharmacy for more than a decade. He is in his mid 30s, and, yes, he has red hair.
Disclaimer: This blog represents the opinions of the author and the author alone. It does not represent any pharmacy group or organization. I also will leave out or change the names of patients/customers to protect their privacy and comply with government regulations regarding patient privacy rights and personal information.
The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.
