PHARMACISTS PLAY KEY ROLE IN RECOMMENDING OTC PRODUCTS

The typical community pharmacistnow spends about 2 hours aweek advising customers aboutOTC products. In the vast majorityof cases, patients are following thepharmacist's advice.

A new survey reported by theAmerican Pharmaceutical Association(APhA) found that pharmacistsare asked about OTC productsan average of 32 times a week. Ofthe pharmacists participating in thesurvey, 55% said that they spend 3to 5 minutes advising each patientwho asks about an OTC product.

"Apparently that time is wellspent," the APhA official said, notingthat patients follow the pharmacist'sOTC product recommendations81% of the time.