Inaccurate Portrayals of Pharmacists on TV

I will preface my latest post by saying this: YES, I know it's only TV. YES, I know it doesn't represent real life exactly. However, it is easy for the majority of viewers to take what they see as fact and then act accordingly in their daily lives. To emphasize my feelings, I will focus on two particular instances.



First, I was very surprised at an advertisement for alli. This is a medication that was first prescription only, so it is FDA-approved. So when I heard one of the testimonials start out "As a pharmacist, I was skeptical," I was furious! Of all people, pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies should know that the research that goes into getting FDA approval for a drug is extensive. Plus, alli had been on the market long enough as a prescription drug that it had even been evaluated safe enough to become OTC. For a pharmacist to be "skeptical" is just ridiculous-truly an insult to all those who strive for excellence in their profession.



Second, I watch Make It or Break It on ABCfamily. As a former gymnast, it really hits home for me. However, in one of the later episodes that aired as part of the most recent segment, I found myself extremely disappointed with the show, the writers, and the consultants. So much so that I was very upset every time the incident was mentioned in the subsequent episodes. It started with Emily coming home to find her brother without the medication he needed to prevent a seizure. Naturally she rushes out to the pharmacy to get the prescription filled. When she gets there, the pharmacist informs her that his rx is no longer covered. The cash price is way more than she can afford, so she inquires about purchasing just a few pills until they can attempt to work out the coverage issue the next day. The pharmacist says that this is illegal and he can't do that. Feeling desperate, the girl lays what money she has down on the counter, grabs the pills and runs away when he turns his back. She is later arrested for this. This frustrates me to no end because it is not illegal for a pharmacist to dispense a partial prescription. Even in the case of a scheduled substance, a partial prescription may be dispensed with the only caveat being that it voids the remainder of the prescription. Additionally, a pharmacist may even dispense enough medication for up to 48 hours in certain instances. Therefore there is no way she should have had to steal and subsequently be arrested. Furthermore, this scenario makes a pharmacist look like a scapegoat or a prop to make some statement about the busted state of our current healthcare system. Which couldn't be farther from the truth. Pharmacists must work within the constraints of this (albeit broken) system and are, therefore, in no way responsible individually or as a profession as a whole for it's shortcomings as they pertain to prescription coverage. Don't these production companies pay excessively large sums of money to so-called "consultants" that are supposed to be familiar with (for example) the medical field and keep them from grossly misrepresenting the facts like this?? It particularly bothers me because I've always been a huge proponent of Disney and ABCfamily. Very disappointing.