Preventing potential drug interactions in community pharmacy

With ongoing debate on health care reform including improved pharmaceutical care, there is much current concern about drug interactions and their prevention. Many patients visit more than one doctor for their different diseases and receive more than one drug at a time, and often doctors are unaware of all the medications their patients are taking and the risks to which their patients are exposed when treated with multiple drugs. Pharmacists in the community setting or hospital are the most accessible health care providers able to intervene when faced with potential drug interactions that may occur during patients' multiple drug therapy. A few selected examples of potential drug-drug interactions and interventions instituted are presented in this paper. Possible mechanisms for the drug interactions are also discussed. It is hoped that more documentation of pharmacists' involvement in such interventions will demonstrate the true value of pharmaceutical care.