OTC drugs and prescription medications are commonly used for flu treatment. New Jersey patients usually take over-the-counter medicines, as OTCs are cheaper and more easily accessible than prescription medications. However, OTC drugs offer symptom relief while prescribed antivirals treat the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends NJ patients to start antiviral…
Vaccine safety is a top priority of healthcare authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the New Jersey Department of Health. CDC ensures that vaccines meet strict safety standards. Parents remain confused about vaccine safety due to misinformation, side effects, too many vaccines at a time, and combination treatment. The…
Standing at the pharmacy counter, the pharmacist asks if you want a generic or brand-name product. Generic is $15. The brand name is $120. Same prescription, same medication supposedly, but one costs eight times more. So what’s the deal? Is the expensive one actually better, or are you just paying for the name? At Soma…
A woman came in asking about flu shots. She’d seen our sign outside that vaccines were in stock and wanted to get it done. Her sister apparently told her it was too early, that she should wait until October. But she was worried that if she left without getting it, she’d forget and never come…
My dad got shingles three years ago, and I’ve never seen him in that much pain. He’s the guy who walked around on a broken toe for two weeks before finally going to the doctor, so when he says something hurts, it really hurts. The shingles rash wrapped around his side and back, and he…
Your cat needs daily thyroid medication. Your Lab requires arthritis pills twice a day. The veterinary clinic hands you a bill for $165, and you realize these prescriptions are hitting every single month. Nobody warned you that prescription medication for pets would become a line item in your budget rivaling your car payment. Most Howell,…
The bathroom medicine cabinet seems like the obvious spot for prescriptions. It’s called a medicine cabinet, after all. But that steamy bathroom where you shower every day is actually one of the worst places to store medications. Those prescription bottles sitting near the shower absorb humidity. Heat from hot water damages them. Kids can reach…
Medication errors happen more often than anyone wants to admit. Wrong dosage. Wrong drug. Bad interaction with something you’re already taking. Sometimes these mistakes are minor inconveniences. Other times they land people in the hospital. The pharmacy filling your prescription plays a bigger role in preventing these errors than most people realize. The debate between…
My daughter came home from school last September with a cold. Two days later, my son had it. By the weekend, I was down for the count. This happened three separate times between October and February. I spent half of last winter feeling like garbage. I’m not big on supplements. My kitchen counter isn’t covered…
Every year around this time, I find myself having the same conversation at least a dozen times a day. Someone sits down in my exam room, and before we even get to why they’re here, they ask: “Should I get a flu shot?” I’ve been practicing family medicine in Howell, NJ, for close to twenty…