Am.  Jour.  Pharm  ) 
Oct.,  1877.  J 
Dispensing  Prescriptions. 
499 
Apothecaries  (even  those  doing  a  small  business)  frequently  have 
two  or  more  prescriptions  on  their  counter  at  one  time  waiting  their 
turn  to  be  compounded.  If  a  proper  record  has  not  been  taken  of 
each,  when  received,  it  is  possible  every  one  may  not  be  delivered  to 
the  persons  to  whom  they  properly  belong,  and  one  of  the  customers 
mav  be  handed  a  prescription  that  belongs  to  another.  Suppose  such 
was  the  case,  and  one  party  should  get  a  medicine  totally  different 
from  the  one  he  or  she  should  have  received  ;  any  apothecary  can  un- 
derstand the  perhaps  serious  consequences  to  the  patient  and  the 
embarrassment  of  his  relations  with  the  physician  as  well  as  the  patient 
in  a  business  point  of  view.  Some  will  say,  perhaps,  the  patient  should 
have  examined  the  label  to  see  if  the  directions,  doctor's  name,  etc., 
were  correct. 
People  usually  presume  that  a  medicine  is  all  right,  and  trusting  to 
their  memory  the  verbal  directions  of  the  doctor,  or  merely  glancing  at 
the  label  to  see  if  it  is  a  teaspoonful  or  tablespoonful  for  a  dose,  think 
either  sufficient. 
The  following  custom  has  been  in  operation  with  the  writer  for  some 
time  and  found  to  work  well. 
When  a  new  prescription  is  received  from  a  customer  at  the  counter, 
the  following  memorandum  is  put  on  the  back  of  it  : 
The  name  of  the  person  for  whom  it  is  ;  state  if  waiting,  or  to  be 
sent,  or  to  be  called  for  ;  if  to  be  sent,  give  the  address  ;  if  to  be 
called  for,  state  the  time  ;  if  paid  for,  or  to  be  collected,  or  to  be 
charged.  If  the  prescription  is  an  old  one,  to  be  repeated,  the  memo- 
randums are  put  on  a  blank  form,  as  follows,  and  is  handed  in  to  the 
name  
ADDRESS  
IS  IT  PAID  ?    (YES  OR  NO)    IS  IT  TO  BE  SENT?    (YES  OR  NO) 
RECEIVED  BY  
COMPOUNDED  BY  
NOS.  OF  #  PRICES. 
prescription  department  (which  is  separated  from  the  other  part  of  the 
store  by  glass  partition),  and  the  prescription  clerk  has  no  occasion  to 
ask  any  questions  about  it,  as  all  the  necessary  information  is  attached 
to  it,  and  he  can  compound  and  deliver  it  to  the  customer,  or  send  it, 
as  the  case  may  be,  without  consulting  the  one  who  received  it. 
