Search

Background: Pharmacists, in community pharmacy, play an important role in public health as they serve as guardians of the accuracy of dispensed prescription. Although the assessment of professional competence for this profession is a difficult task, however, evaluation of this profession may help for giving better services and is needed for safe use of medications. The aim of this study was evaluation of dispensing accuracy and counseling provided by community pharmacists. Methods: During the summer of 2009, a total of 146 community pharmacists in Isfahan city, Iran, were randomly selected for the study. Community pharmacies were selected as the majority of prescriptions dispensed by this kind of pharmacies. Two trained shoppers presented a new prescription order to each randomly selected pharmacy to collect the objective data. The shoppers were instructed on how to make questions from the pharmacist to evaluate the pharmacist knowledge about the dosage, interactions or side effects of prescribed medicines. Findings: In this study of dispensing accuracy and counseling, 136 pharmacists (93%) were present and 120 of them (82%) were actively participated in dispensing and counseling. About 67.8% (99 pharmacists) of pharmacists were caught the inaccuracy of prescribed drug for the patient; 65.8% (96 pharmacists) did not deliver the drug to the patients and encouraged them to consult with their doctor. Four significant drug interactions were included in the prescription; 121 pharmacists (82% of) did not shown any responses to them. Conclusion: Although pharmacists are well-informed about the drugs given when delivering drugs, but drug interactions and side effects of drugs are cases where pharmacists should consider more.

Background: Patients commonly ask pharmacists for the over-the-counter medications when they get different ailments. Assessment of how a pharmacist evaluates a patient's signs and symptoms and his or her approach to treating the patient using over-the-counter medications were the main goals of this study. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the scenarios on cough, diarrhea and Obesity were selected from questionnaires that had been responded by 61 pharmacists. The scenarios were then designed by determining important questions including the key question using appropriate references and the opinions of a panel of experts. Subsequently, a list of all pharmacies in Isfahan (Iran) was obtained and 210 pharmacies were randomly selected. Final analysis was made on 151 visits to 127 community pharmacies. Performance of pharmacists, i.e. the number and type of questions used to come up with a recommendation and the appropriateness of the decision, was assessed both strictly and leniently. Moreover, the length of time spent for counseling and influence of gender and ownership of pharmacists were analyzed. Findings: The mean counseling time was 130.2 ± 86.1 and 98.6 ± 72.4 seconds for female and male pharmacists, respectively (P = 0.01). The key questions for cough, diarrhea, and Obesity scenarios were asked by 29 (55%), 45 (87%), and 0 (0%) of pharmacists, respectively. The questions led to 25 (47%), 10 (19%), and 8 (17%) appropriate recommendations according to a lenient evaluation. Conclusion: Despite asking the key questions, the majority of pharmacists do not make appropriate recommendations for cough, diarrhea, and especially Obesity. Incorporating relevant courses in the pharmacy curricula and devoting continuing education seminars to over-the-counter medication usage are suggested to improve pharmacists' performance.

The existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) has been already established in several hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cancers. Chemoresistance has also been demonstrated as a major cause of cancer treatment failure. Although chemotherapy kills most cells in a tumor, it is believed to leave CSCs behind which might be an important mechanism of resistance and thereby cancer treatment failure. The quiescent nature and existence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) drug transporters in CSCs have been suggested to protect them from chemotherapeutic agents. Gaining a better insight into the mechanisms of CSCs chemoresistance might therefore lead to new therapeutic targets and development of better anticancer strategies. Keywords: Cancer stem cells, Chemotherapy, Drug resistance.