He says pharmacists should tell patients exactly what to expect from their prescribed medications as well as what their medication can’t treat. He advocates for an open dialog between pharmacists and patients about medication effectiveness, side effects and possible dependency issues.
“Remind patients that there are a lot of pain medications, and if this one isn’t right for any reason, they should come back and talk,” he said in the report. “There is a tremendous opportunity for community pharmacists to tell people that they don’t have to suffer and that they don’t have to suffer in silence.”
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