photo taken from ctpharmacists.org
Should drugstores give flu shots?
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I just saw the commercial for that. For only $24.99 you can get a flu shot. What's next? Are all these corporations going to be giving out shots for cash? I don't like it. People are going to be suckered into it for the low prices and it's going to take money away from the doctors. Plus, I wouldn't trust getting a shot from someone I don't know.
If I wanted or needed a flu shot I'd do it that way. Basic medical services like a vaccination shot can be delivered more cheaply without a doctor involved and it leaves their time and attention to devote to actually treating people with problems they might be needed to diagnose or assist in care over.
Yea but they may mess up.
If they want to stay in business they won't. It is just not that complicated to offer a vaccination shot. This is sort of like the people who say you cannot buy generic or off-brand medicines.
To answer the question posed here;
HELL NO!
Just my not-so-humble opinion.
Why not?
Yeah I'm with Sun Tzu, what's the issue?
What if they give you an infected needle?
Given the rates of infection AT hospitals, I should think this is hardly a concern limited to pharmacy dispensary of shots.
It's not like you are getting a shot from "Joe the Plumber". These are still medical professionals. If you are referring to allergic reactions for example (the most common complication), they would have the stuff for treating those right there in their stock. And they filter that by asking questions or filling out forms. It's not like people would or should just walk in hand over their $25 and get a shot.
The types of complications are no different than those which appear in a hospital or clinical setting (or the back of your local Wal-Mart or your place of work with a nurse giving the shot there), they are not that common, and ultimately you end up with more people who have access to the vaccines by distributing them widely and keeping them affordable. It's more important to have more people vaccinated for a disease and any effort which has that as its main goal will end up with more people who have complications almost by definition.
As someone well involved in the medical field, I am very aware of the complications of the flu vaccine. I am also aware of the fact that most pharmacies are not equipped with the proper materials for treating side effects. Also, most reactions can occur several hours past injection, so who shall the person contact in that case?
As far as filling out forms and asking questions, medical professionals are very often placed in situations where their patients don't remember their past illnesses or their possible allergies (which is completely understandable)…So having a (for the most part) medically-illiterate public be responsible for predicting their possible reactions to a vaccine is unsettling.
That problem of medical illiteracy or asymmetric information still applies to doctors. I myself have easy access to someone in the medical field, a primary care doctor in the family. They were not concerned at all with this notion. Other than a licensing dispute between pharmacists and doctors over market share I'm not sure that there is any legitimate complaint to be raised.
It may not be that complicated to administer a flu shot, but the possible side effects and reactions to the shot can become complicated, quickly. That is why the administration of vaccines and shots should be left to the doctors and nurses.
The alternative isn't a hospital, it's a doctor.
Pretty sure doctors work in hospitals. Perhaps we should look into that if they don't.
I knew you were going to say that, but you know what I truly meant. I'm talking about your personal doctor.
Why not? Pharmacists are pharmacists and NOT medically trained in any way shape or form.
FYI – Most doctors in private practice do not give shots – Registered Nurses do.
Who would you want to give you your flu shot – a trained and experienced Registered Nurse, or an untrained pharmacist?
And as far as the cost is concerned . . . How much is YOUR life worth?
True, medical illiteracy plagues all aspects of the medical profession. However, unlke pharmacists, doctors have access to medical histories via documentation that is easily accessible (for doctors, that is). So even if Jane Doe isn't aware of her penicillin allergy, her chart will tell you she is.
At a recent convention held by the CDC, medical professionals present stressed their concern over the notion of dispensing vaccines at drug stores via pharmacists. If a nurse or nurse practitioner is present to do such, so be it. Good move. However, the notion of holding a 1-day course to train pharmacists in giving the shot is, to take Mr. Jugs' word, unsettling. A day-course is in no way a substitute for years of medical training.
The likelihood of a vaccine actually causing a life threatening reaction is extremely low. Most doctors' offices and clinics have many thousands of patients and know full well that most of them will go to their pharmacy, their place of work, etc to get their shots. There is no way for them to logistically handle thousands of people showing up over a month long period prior to flu season for example. I would agree that it makes sense that pharmacists should be trained to do this. But they are in fact, trained to do it.
So far as the medical record issue where a doctor might notice an allergy, that can be ameliorated by having our medical records be a matter of our own private record, portable between those who provide us with different services of health care. A pharmacist is not so stupid that they would fail to notice that somebody is allergic to eggs on the records. They are just as likely to notice drug interactions, if not more so, as a doctor is. Why noting this sort of medical risk is any different, requiring years of specialised training instead of basic medical common sense is beyond my ability to comprehend.
As I said earlier, these are pharmacists, people with medical training, not Joe Blow at the corner that we are purchasing shots from. From what I can tell, hundreds of thousands of people do this every year around the country already. If there was going to be some great outbreak of risk and danger to people getting these shots beyond that already associated with a medically illiterate population, we would have heard of it by now.
Lots of people don't have personal doctors like you or I might.
Yea, but the likelihood is there.
That still doesn't matter. If he isn't a trained physician, then he shouldn't even be near someone with a needle.
How do you know that the needles they are bringing are completely clean?
im sure the person giving the shot is well trained and it keeps healthy ppl from having to go to the drs where sick ppl are generally …i think yes