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What You Need to Know about Drug Interactions

Summary & Participants

When it comes to drug interactions - what you don't know can hurt you.

Medically Reviewed On: August 13, 2008

Webcast Transcript

JOEL ZIVE, RPh, ZIVE PHARMACY: There’s a lot of issues that come into play here when you’re taking medications. A general generic question you could ask, "I have this prescription. Is there anything I need to be aware of that can cause a drug interaction?"

ANNOUNCER: Often times, people are surprised by what can possibly interfere with their medicines.

JOEL ZIVE, RPh, ZIVE PHARMACY: One of the most common ones that people don’t know a lot about is drug interactions with vitamins and with iron tablets and with dairy products. You’re nullifying the effect. Taking milk and tetracycline, for example. If you drink a glass of milk with tetracycline, it doesn’t work, the infection is getting worse. And if the doctor or the prescriber doesn’t know that, well, they’re going to maybe give you a stronger medication that you might not necessarily need, which would be more expensive, too.

ANNOUNCER: Whether medications are over the counter or by prescription, it’s important to be informed about the drugs you’re taking – and that’s where your pharmacist comes in

JOEL ZIVE, RPh, ZIVE PHARMACY: I think the first question you want to ask is, "Is there any foods that can interact with this? Are there any over-the-counters I should avoid? And is there any time I should be taking these, a certain time of day?" And asking those kinds of questions are good, because it’ll help the pharmacist think of maybe some other issues.

ANNOUNCER: So before you take any drug, do yourself a favor and check with your local expert.

JOEL ZIVE, RPh, ZIVE PHARMACY: Let’s say you go into a pharmacy, you go to the shelf, you take an over-the-counter drug off, you go home and you have a drug interaction. Think of how much time, aggravation, stress that’s going to cause your life versus going to a pharmacist and asking him or her a 15-second question, “Is there anything I need to be aware of with this?” Think of how much time that could save you.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily!