看到一篇很感人的文章,作者在医药界工作, 写出了自己女儿在患病时的亲身经历,再次验证了药品安全的重要性,以及我们作为医药行业人员对确保药品安全性的重大责任. 一个小小的错误,都会关乎到人命. 我们在这个能拯救人生命的行业, 应该要用严谨的职业操守捍卫它的崇高和价值.
A Personal Story about the Value of Transdermals & Individual Responsibility for Quality
On February 9 2011, I truly and personally realized the value of what we do at MTI. My daughter (now 6 years old) had extensive surgery. Really intense surgery. The kind of thing that you wish as a parent you could trade places and do it for them so they didn’t have to go through it. She was in the ICU for days and in the hospital for a week and a half. As she was recovering, she had to take an oral medication a few times a day. She has always hated taking medicine. Even the bubblegum flavored easy breezy kind. But this stuff…it tasted so bad and upset her so much that every time she had to take it, she worked herself into such a tizzy that she would throw up. When you have 6 inches of stitches in your abdomen and several tubes coming out of it, throwing up is a very bad situation. The nurses tried every song and dance they could to make it easier on her but nothing worked. They even tried hiding it in ice cream. But it was no use and the whole family dreaded the times that she had to suffer through this ordeal. A day or so into it…I realized that the medication came in a transdermal patch…but none of the doctors or nurses seemed to know about it or believe me. So I begged them to check with the hospital pharmacist and sure enough I was right. But unfortunately the hospital pharmacy either didn’t have (or maybe it wasn’t made in) a dose indicated for pediatric use. I was so disappointed because it occurred to me how valuable it would have been for her situation. And it made me think about all of the people who use transdermal patches that are sick, that are hurting, that can’t stomach medicine orally or can’t remember to take medicine that they need and I really had a personal A-Ha moment that what we are doing, making transdermal patches for these patients, is really something great.
Those of you who have attended the recent GMP refreshers where I have been one of the trainers , have been forced to ogle a picture of my daughter as we discuss the reasons GMPs are important. To me, this is an opportunity to remind ourselves that our consumers are not vague, obscure, nameless, faceless people. They are you and I…our loved ones or somebody somewhere’s loved one.
When I give my daughter her daily prescription, I can’t help but think about pharmaceutical companies that have had quality problems and jeopardized the health and safety of people. I think about metal shavings, glass bits, bacteria and other horrible things I have read in the news and industry publications.
It makes me think long and hard (and I hope you too) about how each and every one of us has an obligation to do our jobs accurately, carefully, thoroughly and thoughtfully. And to document our work in the same manner. And to follow our procedures. And to lead by example. And to uphold the motto of do what’s right , not what’s easy.