Reprinted from the Health District's quarterly publication mailed to district residents (Winter 2004)

Herbert Norman, 81, has had someone besides his doctors helping him through a fight with cancer and chronic conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes — his pharmacist Paul Butler.

“Paul has been looking out for us every step of the way,” says Norman’s wife Eileene. “We make sure we know everything about what Herb has to take and exactly how to take it.”

The relationship between the Normans and Butler spans the entire 23 years Butler has had Butler’s Lemay Pharmacy in Fort Collins. 

“He’s there for us, keeping us informed and we trust him implicitly,” Eileene says. “He doesn’t just fill our prescriptions, he stands back and looks at our life.”

The Normans aren’t alone in their relationship with their pharmacist. Pharmacists were ranked at the top among 21 professions for four straight years, from 1995 to 1999, for honesty and integrity in a survey by The Norwest Public Opinion Research Program of the Graduate School of Public Affairs at CU-Denver. Coloradans put pharmacists above doctors, scientists, schoolteachers and even clergy in the study. Gallup did a similar survey in 1997 that also landed pharmacists on top for honesty and ethical standards. They’ve since fallen to second after nurses were added to the list of choices.

“Pharmacists are there to be a resource for their customers, and customers should and do take advantage of that,” says Val Kalnis, executive director of the Colorado Pharmacists Society.

Kalnis said every pharmacist should offer to counsel a customer on their prescription.

“The sticker on the bottle might just say ‘Take with food or milk’,” Kalnis says. “But the consumer doesn’t know if that means to take it before, during or after a meal, and how much food or milk they should take it with. A pharmacist can help with those specifics.”

Pharmacists can also be a valuable line of defense for safeguarding against possible negative drug interactions.

Like many pharmacists, Butler has a computer program that flags drugs that interact.

“I had a case of possible interaction a couple of days ago,” Butler says. “The customer had two different doctors who weren’t aware of what the other was prescribing. I gave the doctor who wrote the prescription a call and he was able to change the medication to something without the potential to interact.”

While pharmacists aren’t physicians, they can work with them to provide the best possible medical care for a patient.

“I make it a point to get to know my customers and their needs,” Butler says. “Part of the responsibility of taking care of their health is mine and I take that responsibility seriously.”