notageek

I worked slightly over half of today’s pharmacist-hours. Of the pitifully small number of scripts processed in that time, I dispensed half our Relenza and all of our Tamiflu, and I sold a bajillion boxes of surgical-style masks. Oh, and some lady freaked out because the cheapo off-brand surgical-style masks don’t have a particle micron-size filter label but the 3M ones do.

What the hell, people? We are nowhere near any of the documented swine flu cases. It is not a bad idea to have surgical-style facemasks around. It is not even a bad idea to read up on the situations in which an antiviral would be of use. But it is really, really dumb to go freaking out because somebody else already snapped up the last available box of Tamiflu in this neighbourhood. There is a supplier shortage of Tamiflu precisely because so many people are inappropriately panicking and filling scripts inappropriately when they will be of no anti-infective benefit.

YOU DON’T NEED IT, people in my patient population. And by taking it now, you are ensuring that, should this swine flu actually go pandemic, someone who needs it will go without; moreover, if you even do have flu of some kind, you are almost certainly not taking the antiviral in a manner which will reduce your symtomatic illness at all. Take your multivit, get enough sleep, eat un-crappy food and for fuck’s sake wash your hands and don’t pick at your nose. Take vitamin C, if you want. And quit listening to the “news coverage” on the “not-a-pandemic-YET!” because it will just make you stressed, paranoid, and ready to waste antivirals.