Nurse Practitioners are dangerous and should be avoided, according to this pharmacist as a nurse practitioner tears into generics and a pharmacist lets her have it. You be the judge
Are generics dangerous? I prescribe generic warfarin. I only prescribe generic of a lot of things. Myself, I take generic levothyroxine. I must admit I take brand name Advil in the gel capsule because Mrs Happy won't buy anything else. I'm not quite sure what kind of patients this NP is practicing on. I just don't find myself discouraging the use of generics.
Do you tell your patients to avoid generics? Or as a patient, do you try and avoid them?
Wonderfully poetic rebuttal.
ReplyDeleteI must agree with many of my fellow RN's who dislike and distrust NP's. (..and NO it is not envy. I have two summa degrees--BSN and in Business, and had been accepted for NP school before changing my mind..)
I understand that the plural of "a story" is not data, but I too was given a clear GYN bill of health by an NP six weeks before a kidney stone [that sent my to the ER] revealed a 12 cm ovarian mass. I'm alive because of great ER f/u and will treat myself before seeing an NP.
Pattie, RN
The important thing is that patients need to be monitored whether on brand-name or generic meds. Adjust the treatment, based on response. A +/- arbitrary dose of brand name needs to be assessed just as generic meds need to be assessed.
ReplyDeleteIt is the monitoring that needs to be brand-name; Hal Dall,MD (TM) not n.p. (generic for Hal Dall,MD).
as a felow doctor and investigator, i think brand-name medication shouldnt exist, its a waste of memory for me, is black mafia on pharmaceuticals, genereic medication works!! this ignorance comming from a health care provider, more if he/she has more than 20 years. have you ever heard of clinical trials???, phase 1,2,3,4 youll see brand name only at 4, it would be used when generic are tested on earlier stages and actually worked.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that generic warfarin is fine, but that the various manufacturers can have some variance, so sticking with one generic brand is important, particularly in someone having difficulties staying therapeutic.
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a correlation between stupid people and thinking trade name drugs are better more so than a correlation between being an NP and thinking brand name is better.
I take anything I can get my prescriptions filled generically. However, I started on one that just went generic and found out the something in the fillers didn't like me(ie: I felt like the Hindenburg- gas-ex became my best friend!). Back to the brand on that one!
ReplyDeleteI work as a pharmacy tech, and never quite believed patients when they said they had problems with certain generics.....
I ask my docs to prescribe generics and tweak as necessary. Newer<>better.
ReplyDeleteSome mfrs' choices of inactive ingredientsmake their products work better than other mfrs' for a given individual. Often, a mfr will subcontract production of a brand name drug that has been off-patent for a long time to a company that makes and sells the same drug as a generic. The information is out there - be an educated consumer!
I've only had one bad experience with an NP prescribing but that was enough because we were doing a very involved medical thing and she prescribed a number of drugs for us.
ReplyDeleteI quickly learned when dropping the prescription off it was a good idea to have the Pharmacist take a quick look at it to make sure it was written correctly.
The women prescribed things that were OTC (no it wasn't just writing whatever on a prescription pad so we wouldn't forget), she prescribed things that didn't exist (pills in various mg), she forget to fill things in right.
Our health plan didn't cover the pharmacy in the hosptial so we were always taking them elsewhere to be filled and I came to suspect that the hosptial pharmacy must have known her and fixed things up for her.
Drove me nuts.
I would feel leery about taking any extended-release medication in generic form. There've been too many documented snafus and I'm pretty sure I don't need a day's worth of anything dumping on me all at once. I don't mind paying extra for the peace of mind.
ReplyDeletelol at her alphabet soup signature. The more letters you have after your name, the less they mean.
ReplyDeleteI highly disagree with any statement that generalizes that being treated by an NP is dangerous. No need to state they are not doctor's, because nobody has ever made such a claim, especially NOT a nurse practitioner. I feel that so often people have one bad experience and write it off as the general rule without giving it another thought or chance. I understand that it's upsetting to have missed a diagnosis, but people make mistakes, doctors certainly do as well. If in fact the NP was not good at his or her job, then they should no longer get to practice. This doesn't mean, however, that NPs are dangerous or ineffective providers. If we wrote off anyone who hurt us or let us down, we would probably trust no one. So, the moral of my story is, don't habituate stereotypes by ignorantly generalizing a one time experience.
ReplyDeleteThe NPs I have felt do a good job are those working within a limited context, such as Cardiac Care. Primary Care NPs just do not have the depth and breadth of learning required for all that is seen in an office. Their biggest flaw is that they don't know what they don't know.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have to take the hippocratic oath. Yes, very dangerous to have them treat ppl and prescribe meds.. I 100% agree.
ReplyDeleteGenerics are fine. Have you ever heard of clinical trials? I'm amazed at how ignorant some of the "informed" can be.
ReplyDelete