Communication is key

A past president of the Barbados Pharmaceutical So-ciety wants to see patients effectively communicating with their doctors.

 

Addressing the National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) lunchtime lecture “Prescription Drugs and You”, Paul Gibson expressed that the better you are able to communicate, the better the doctor can respond.  

 

“Sometimes people take medication before going to see their doctor and don’t tell or forget to tell the doctor what they already used.  

 

“Then the doctor takes their blood pressure and it’s too high and because of that increases the pressure dosage. The doctor is not misdiagnosing you, the doctor is looking at the signs, symptoms and clinical picture before him or her. The doctor is making an assessment, seeing your pressure has gone up and you have given all the information. The doctor then writes up the prescription, doubling the medication, all because you didn’t communicate,” he pointed out.  

 

Gibson also took the opportunity to assure those gathered that they can trust the quality of prescription drugs being brought into Barbados. He explained the rules in Barbados are “if you have Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, if you are compliant with United States Pharmacopeia and the British pharmacopoeia then you are permitted to import those drugs into Barbados.  

 

“What is of significance is that a drug that is manufactured somewhere else in the world cannot be imported into Barbados until it is being used in the country of origin. It has to be that their people are using it as well and that it meets the international standards and guidelines of pharmaceutical manufacturers practice. 

 

The past president also indicated that Barbadians have been very fortunate that this government, over time, has been able to negotiate with the branded manufacturers to bring their prices down significantly.  

 

Gibson further revealed that there is a pharmacovigilance process in place, “We have a pharmacovigilance officer at the Barbados Drug Service. Any time you are having any issues with any of your medications, you can call the drug service and express what you have identified – such as it is not breaking down properly, it doesn’t taste right … this is all feedback that can be validated and that product will be looked at and extricated from the system. You can trust a lot of what comes into Barbados,” he said.