The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-06-23
REFILL1NG PRESCRIPTIONS.
Where the Interests of Doctors and
 Druggists Seem to Conflict.

'
 ble relations which should exist be- tween druggists and physicians, and because of frequent occurrence many a physician who has formerly been constant prescriber has felt himself justified in changing to be dispenser The doctor reasons that as he re- ceives an average fee of 50 cents for every prescription he writes, the drug | gist has cheated him out of just that much when there is refill without his order.
 Being in business for what money there is in it the physician will natur- ally not feel very charitable toward the druggist who constantly refills his prescriptions-reffl them not alone for the original patient but oftentimes for ! a neighbor or friend in another town. In such event the said parties become the benetieiaries of the physicians skill with absolutely no remuneration what ever to him.
 Then, in addition to the financial consideration, there is also moral question involved, A physician pre- scribes only as the symtoms before him at the time indicate; the medicines which he directs are those which, in his Judgment will best meet the patients present condition, and by the time that the medicine is used and presented for a refill, there may be and in fact usually has such considerable change occurred in the patients's condition as to render a new prescription advisable. l But if the patient, through mis- l guided sense of economy, or through ignorance Encouraged by the drug gist's greedy does not return to the physician but instead has the original prescription refilled and continues it's use, the medicine being unf1tted for his lpresent condition may greatly retard his recovery, it indeed no more serious consequence results, and in addition to this injury to the patient himself the physicians reputation is liable to suffer owing to the patients delayed or non recovery.
 It often occurs that when a person is Isuffering from severe pain, the phy- sician will prescribe some powerful and dangerous drug, such as morphine or cocaine, intending that it be used, only under the existing circumstances, but the one having it refilled will use 1t for minor aches and pains, and in few months will have become addicted to the drug habit and have become 8 fiend.
 | The public in commenting on his condition, will of course censure the l !. lYlf ttrilI almost invariably conclude that if Dr.
 A. B--had not given him a prescrip- ton for it in the first place he would never have started, while the truth is that the danger began when the drug gist reflled that prescription. The public, however, not understanding this, the physicians reputation suffers. i Refecting upon circumstances sim- liar to the above mentioned, the doc tor concludes that perhaps he should
 furnish his own medicines and while
 in this state of mind becomes an easy lvictim to the wiles of the drummer"
 of the physicians supply house, and | he becomes a disenser, with consequent
 loss and annoyance to both himself and
 the druggist
 Druggists refill prescriptions for but
 two reasons-one, good greed for
 every penny in sight, and the other a misunderstanding of the circumstances and conditions He who ref1lls because
 of greed should realize that if he forces
 the physicians to dispense he will then Hose, practically all his prescriptions,
 and in reality almost every time that
 he refuses to refil and send the person
 back to the physician, he will return with a new prescription, the profits Iupon which will, in the end balance the
 old
 He who has reflled just becuae the bottle or box was brought back to the istore, and without ever realizing the circumstances, should when he once re- ceives clear conception of the situa- Ition, immediately make personal visit
 to all the physicians of his vicinity and
 have heart-to-heart talk with them lupon the subject. After they have to- gether gone over the situation and
 whne they understand each others views, they should set about for some
 solution of the problem
 In my own case after several con- Iferences we decided that no matter to
 whom the prescription belongs l must
 retain the original for self-protection
 and that as the physician was respon- sible for the origin or the prescription The should also be responsible for the length of time that it should be used;
 for be it remembered, oftentimes the physician desires the prescription to be
 ref1lled and used for quite time, as lin the case of a mild, laxative, simple
 tonic etc. We therefore agreed that
 the doctor should designate upon the
 prescription whether or not it should be refilled, and if so how many times.
 This decided, the method of making
 his wishes known next received atten- Ition, and we early discarded a proposed tsecret mark as being unfair both to the lcustomer and to my druggists , lAt last we adopted the straightforward honest course of stating plainly upor
 the prescription just what was to be . ldone with regard to refilling it. In or. lder to facilitate this had the follow ling notice printed upon my blanks; "Thts prescription intended for the pre- Isent condition of the patient only, ant ican-be ref1lled--," This notice was , printed in small type in the lower left lhand corner of the blank and in using , lit, if the physician did not cart , whether it was refilled or not, ht , l -,-,,l7- laf+ if as if WAS If he did no