Jane: The attitudes of others – Taking ‘many’ medicines (2)

Jane
Female
Age at interview: 53
Number of medicines: 8
Cultural background: Anglo-Australian

Jane was upset and humiliated when a pharmacist interrogated her about her medicines and medical history in the very public space of the pharmacy. She felt his questioning was unprofessional and inappropriate.

I did also have an incident at a chemist where he made a comment about the number of tablets I'd been taking and the change in my medication. 

I was very upset and offended by that and ... yeah ... I thought that was totally inappropriate. That's probably the only other public situation I've been in where I feel like there's been a major judgement on what I'm taking and the doses I'm taking. And yeah ... I thought that was really not his job! I thought his job was to be helpful and educating, rather than to make a judgement and I was stunned about that really ... 

I wrote a letter to the manager and said that I thought that was really unhelpful and inappropriate and she did message me, email me back and say she was sorry about that and that he had been spoken to ... Other people were around and ... I guess, I do feel like being at the chemist is a very awkward place to be. You rock up to the checkout and think, ‘You know, there are people who I see at the shops and I don't want them knowing everything that I take.’ That's none of their business. So, having tried to stay at the same chemist has been helpful in a lot of ways.

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The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.