He was a young man and a brand new pharmacist working at a CVS when his mentor warned him about a trend in prescriptions he noticed.
Opioids.
People were dying and addiction was skyrocketing. Pill mills were counterfeiting opiates like OxyContin, methadone, and Vicodin at a rapid pace, pain centers serving those suffering chronic pain were ultra-active, and the supply always was meeting the demand.
“When I first experienced opioids, I was a staff pharmacist in Pennsylvania, and the man I worked for told me when he started noticing that something was wrong. He told me the amount (of opiates) being prescribed was really bad,” recalled Zack Elerick, pharmacy director at East Ohio Regional Hospital in Martins Ferry. “Now that the facts from a lot of the court cases are coming out, we know much more about what was taking place.
“As I’ve progressed in my career and now in this director’s role, I have more responsibilities to make sure I’m helping to control the amount of opioids I see prescribed, and that’s why I put some rules in place in the hospital to help with that limitation,” he explained. “No one wants to feel pain and we understand that. BUt no one wants to get addicted either.”
Elerick, who was a staff pharmacist at the Ohio Valley Medical Center in September 2019 when it closed, also has managed the Hometown Pharmacy at EORH since the medical center’s reopening three years ago.
“And there are policies in place at the retail pharmacy, too, that really help with limiting opioid abuse and potential abuse,” he said. “Plus, the rules and laws that have been put into place have really helped pharmacists police it because a doctor is limited on how much they can prescribe when a patient is discharged.
“The whole industry has evolved since the issues with opioids were exposed and the industry’s opioid experience now protects people.”
The drug epidemic in the United States unfortunately remains active, and last week alone in the Wheeling area, “bad batch” warnings were distributed by public safety agencies three times in one week for heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine.
“We have seen the opiate problem spread with heroin abuse instead of the prescription pills because heroin is cheaper and easier to get these days. Add the fentanyl, and that’s why we’ve had so many overdoses,” the pharmacist said. “That’s why I believe educating the public about Narcan is so important right now.
“Narcan is very available because of the overdoses and the amount of deaths we’ve seen in the valley,” Elerick insisted. “We’re to the point now that if you don’t know someone who has been impacted by all of this, you might be the only one in the room because it’s been so widespread. Narcan has saved so many lives.”
Down the Street
The Hometown Pharmacy is so local it operates a walk-up window.
The drugstore is open from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Saturday. Delivery service is available, and most insurances are accepted.
“The best part,” said Elerick, “is that you’re going to know the person behind the counter because we have a small crew that works here and we take what we do seriously.
“We did start delivering and we have a few customers on that weekly list right now and we’re hoping it will grow. Right now, we’re limiting it to three days per week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,” he outlined. “And we’ve established a 10-to-15-mile radius for those deliveries.”
There are additional items available for sale at the Hometown Pharmacy, including shampoos, aspirin and Ibuprofen, paper towels, and several other household needs.
“By having those other items on our shelves, we’re just trying to make it as convenient as we can for the folks who come in for their prescriptions each month,” the pharmacy director said. “And we have sales on certain items from time to time, and we do advertise those specials on our Facebook page.
“It’s just part of that personal touch we offer,” Elerick said. “And that’s why we hope people realize they can transfer their prescriptions to us just by asking their doctors to send them to us instead of to another pharmacy.”
Maybe his most important duty while operating the retail shop and the medications for the patients in all departments at EORH is monitoring the ever-changing pharmaceutical industry as it pertains to medication availability, the cost, and which drugs are permissible under individual insurance coverages.
“The pharmaceutical industry is constantly changing and so are the reimbursement rates from insurance companies,” he said. “Those rates are shrinking more and more for hospitals and retail pharmacies. So, it really affects everyone. But there are some cases where we actually lose money on prescriptions. That’s the sad reality of the pharmacy industry right now.
“I do love the job and everything that goes with it because in this position you’re able to have a positive impact on the patients you’re helping to take care of. There’s a lot that takes place behind the scenes,” Elerick said. “We have a great team here at East Ohio and it’s been great to watch it grow.”
