Pharmacy tech here, with a pharmacist dad to boot. He instructed me awhile back about antibiotic expiration dates, particularly tetracyclines, which your JAMA link references. Dangerous stuff if out of date. I’m not an expert in the field (yet), but I generally would want to avoid taking any antibiotics that are out…

Just a heads up, Robax isn’t available OTC in the USA. Methocarbamol is Rx only here, and that includes any combo products.

I’d love to see a piece about how the price of generics has skyrocketed in recent years. It’s been written about in the past, but it’s an issue that doesn’t receive anywhere near enough attention. Drugs that have been around for decades have gone up in price three- or fourfold, while the companies that manufacture…

As a pharmacy employee, I’m somewhat familiar with what that drug is for. Opioid-induced constipation is 1) going to occur anytime opiates are used and 2) a serious, potentially life-threatening side effect of opiate use. Generally perscribers write an order for daily laxative use along with the narcotic to counteract…

When I was younger and first watching Star Wars, I always got the sense that Obi-Wan was sort of the “old neighbor man” that lived close by Luke’s farm (close in the Tatooine sense of the word, since it’s basically an old Western style frontier, so maybe a good speeder ride away). Remember that Luke immediately…

A lot of the time doctors will prescribe anti-infective or bacteriostatic agents for burns or large wounds instead of antibiotics due to the large amount of resistant strains present (and especially in hospitals where patients are receiving treatment). These often don’t actively kill bacterial cells like an…

If it’s controlled substances (eg. narcotic painkillers, sleeping meds, etc.) then there really isn’t a legal option for option disposal. If you need or want to get rid of them, I would recommend putting them in a sturdy trashbag or ziploc and mixing them with a bit of water and a good helping of coffee grounds, and…

Pharmacy employee here, so hopefully I can clarify some of this. It is not possible to “take back” a prescription once it has been dispensed to the patient (eg. signed for, money paid, etc.). If you haven’t picked up your medication and tell us that you don’t want it we can absolutely return it to our shelves, but…