Just
as people with limited use of their hands need customized cars to enjoy
the pleasures and independence of driving an automobile, some people
have a hard time taking over-the counter and
prescriptions medicines and need customized prescriptions. “We
often
transform tablets into liquid medications to make it more palatable for
customers to swallow their medications,” explained Phamily Pharmacy
pharmacist
Gideon Akunji.
Meeting a customer’s specific prescription needs increases the chance
that the customer will take their medications as their doctor
instructed. When customers don’t take their medications properly, side
effects and complications can occur. “Compliance is very
important for the healing process,”
continued Akunji.
Much of Phamily Pharmacy’s customized work is for children. “Some kids
won’t take their medication if the see that it is medicine,” he
explained. However, if we make their medicine look like candy,
they will take it,”
he continued.
To make a prescription likable, he often mixes
the
drug with peanut
butter. Another favorite is to shape the formulation into a
lollipop. “Every morning, the kid just take it and suck it,” he
continued.
Though many chain pharmacies don’t offer the service, all pharmacist
learn the art of making customized drugs or compounding in pharmacy
school. “It’s even more challenging than just dispensing
medicine,” added Gideon.
So, why don’t more pharmacies provide this service? “It’s much
more time consuming, he explained. Despite the increased cost,
many insurance companies do cover the cost. (Phamily Pharmacy also creates medications for pets.)
Before coming to the United States, Akunji was a poultry farmer. He
also once operated a convenience store. However, becoming a pharmacist
remained his goal since he was young. “When I graduated from high
school in Kumba, Cameroon, I wanted to be a pharmacist to help
alleviate the suffering I
saw in my community,” he says.
The 1990 graduate of Howard’s School of Pharmacy came to the United
States from Kumba, in 1985. Akunji opened his pharmacy in 1994
after working
for several chain pharmacy stores.
Though he has since added buying cars at a Maryland car auction to his
list of interest, helping people feel better is still his goal.
“Pharmacists are the last professionals sick people often see before
taking their medications, therefore, our role in important in the
healing process,” he says.
|
Gideon
Akunji
with a customer
6323
Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. USA
Tel 202-722-0171
Fax 202-722-0348
Monday thru Friday
9a to
6p
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