<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hi All--

Thanks to all who responded to my question, which was,
how do we know a medication is gf before paying for
it, especially when it is a generic? 30+ people sent
me wonderful suggestions to get around the problem of
going to the pharmacy to get a prescription (usually
called in by your doc), asking if it's gf, and the
pharmacy staff looking at you as though you're
speaking a foreign language. This is what ya'll said
(text enclosed in parentheses are my comments):

Typically, pharmacists are not very cooperative when
making sure a medication is gf. Ask your doctor to
write on all prescriptions, "Medication must be gluten
free." (Several people suggested that the Dr. write on
the script that the medication must be gluten free,
but there were some subtle differences in what people
thought that would accomplish. Mostly, people thought
that if it were written on the Rx, the pharmacist
would be liable if they didn't actually check the gf
status with the manufacturer and illness occurred. I
asked both a pharmacist and a lawyer about liability
on this issue. Both gave me the same response, which
was, yes, have the Dr. note on the Rx that the
medication must be gf, but whoever picks up the
medication must also ask the pharmacist if they
verified that the medication was gluten free. That is
when the liability attaches itself. If the pharmacist
says yes, they verified the status, they are liable at
that point for any illness resulting. If they say no,
or they aren't sure, ask them to verify it before you
leave the pharmacy. If they are too busy to call for
you, ask for the manufacturer's phone number and a
phone and call yourself - assuming this is during the
day and you can reach the manufacturer. At any rate,
on the subject of liability, a pharmacist is only
liable at the point when you ask him or her directly
if they checked the gluten status.)

Several people said to use only brand name drugs.

There may be a higher copay, but you could spend more
than that driving around looking for a gf generic. The
advantage to a brand name is ease in reaching the
company and consistency in knowing the brand name is
gf.

If you use generics, check with the pharmacy to see if
they stock more than one generic, then find one that
is gf.

One person said her Dr. will write several
prescriptions for different meds, then either while in
the Dr.'s office or when she gets home, she calls
Stokes Pharmacy. If she's at home and getting meds
over the phone, she calls Stokes - gradually, one
begins to know which meds one can or cannot take.

Also, this person said she is relying more and more on
homeopathy.

One person suggested that if you're at the pharmacy
and if the gluten status can't be determined right
away, ask the pharmacy to dispense a one-day supply of
the medication, and pay for it yourself if your
insurance won't pay that way or if you just don't want
to go through insurance. At your first chance, check
the gluten status by internet, calling the
manufacturer the next day, etc. If what you have is
gf, you can get the rest filled the next day - if it's
not gf, you only have to throw away one day's worth of
medication. (Some pharmacies can accept return
medications in situations such as ours - ask your
pharmacist if you can return the medication if it
isn't gf. Also, this suggestion doesn't quite cover
the issue of immediate need, such as for antibiotics.

You might want to try to "develop" a relationship with
a pharmacist so that they get to know you and
understand that the issue of gluten is not just an
idle excuse you've concocted to annoy pharmacists.

This technique works well with car repair people,
too.)

One person said that her pharmacist knows her well and
always checks the status of her medications. She also
has a recent PDR for reference. (See, get to know your
pharmacist!)

Several people noted that in immediate need
situations, we simply may need to go with what info
you get in the package insert, which is usually
accurate.

If your insurance allows it, take your prescriptions
to a compounding pharmacy.

One person said that www.rxlist.com will give you an
idea of what to expect and look for as far as
ingredients go. Also, in the Am J Health-Syst Pharm 58

(05):396-401, 2001 - An article on gf meds, "Gluten in Pharmaceutical
Products," about pharmacists dealing with celiac disease patients need a
reliable means of identifying the gluten content of pharmaceutical
products. Also, again, the following address lists companies that use no
gluten as well as specific drugs that are or are not safe. (Hand type in
the address so that it isn't truncated or the address won't
work)http://gastroenterology.medscape.com/35592.rhtml?srcmp=gas-033001
Walgreens has drug information online at www.walgreens.com. A pharmacist
for Walgreens said they cannot 'tag' gluten as a no-no in the computer
because it is an inert ingredient, not a drug. (I've had to recently
change from a small pharmacy to a Walgreen's and they have entered
"Allergic to gluten" in my profile. Of course, one pharmacist had to ask
me what gluten was, so the allergy prompt may not be useful if you
aren't physically there to answer their questions...) This same person
suggested that you might want to take cookies to your pharmacist at
holidays - become memorable instead of the pain we usually are. (Didn't
I tell you....?)

______________________

I think that most of us would rather have accurate
information about our medication over suing our
pharmacists. I've had some really terrific pharmacists
who performed way beyond what was expected to help me.

For myself, I've found that my state has a pharmacy
school at a large university hospital - the pharmacy
students offer a drug information line, doing nothing
but contacting drug manufacturers for whatever
information is needed - used by doctors, pharmacists
and patients. Check with your state's medical
universities for a similar service.

Hope some of these suggestions will be helpful to
people...

Cheers,
Ayn/Kansas