By H.P., Pharmacist

Words are wonderful. They are how we communicate. When put in a certain order, words can ask, answer, elate, hurt, calm, soothe, comfort, enrage, or simply terrorize. In today’s case, nothing scares us more than these phrases, alone or, in the scariest situations, in some unholy arrangement that will leave us sleepless for weeks. I believe that a little knowledge can be a good thing. However, a little information can be a bad thing.

“I have this rash…”
“Can you look at this for me?”
“Do you have any questions for the pharmacist…?” (We should ask, “germane to your prescription”.)
“I looked it up on WebMD and they said…”
“Can you identify this?” (asked while holding an apparently clear bag)
“I saw this on Dr. Oz…” or rather anything that starts with or includes “Dr. Oz…”
Same goes for anything that includes “…ObamaCare…”

“I think I might have this rash, and I saw this product on Dr. Oz, and I need you to look at it and identify it, and is it covered under Obamacare, because WebMD tells me it’s cancer.”

Reprinted with permission from The Cynical Pharmacist.  Also on Facebook.