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By Michelle J. Jones
Arizona Daily Wildcat
October 22, 1996
A state-wide phone line manned by UA pharmacy students is allowing people to ask questions anonymously about the benefits and potential hazards of prescription medications.The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy and the Arizona Society of Hospital Pharmacists are sponsoring the phone line, which will be operating tonight and tomorrow night from 5 to 9.
The phones will be answered by pharmacy students, but on each line there will also be a practicing pharmacist or faculty member to help out, said Michael Katz, pharmacy professor.
Callers can ask any questions they have relating to their medications, such as side effects, taking prescriptions together and the average shelf life of a medication.
"We want to show people that pharmacists do things other than fill prescriptions," he said. "Patient counseling, talking to patients about their medications, is a big part of the job."
This is the sixth or seventh annual Medical Information Phone Line, Katz said. He said it receives hundreds of calls each year from all around the state. The number of calls is limited by the number of phone lines available, he said. Katz expects to have five phone lines this year, bringing in about 500 total calls.
"One in 10 people in the hospital today are there due to a drug-related problem," he said. "These may be side effects, reactions, or the wrong dose, but if we can identify problems sooner, hospital visits and other expenses can be avoided."
Jennifer Jordan, University Medical Center pharmacy resident, was one of the students who helped answer the phone line last year.
"I volunteered because I think there's a lack of information available to the public about medications," she said. "I think it is beneficial to those with questions because they can easily get answers."
In Tucson, the number for the phone line is 325-1055. Bilingual operators will also be available.
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