Ask the Pharmacists

However, she says chain drugstores often standardize their lists.

She also points out that some things go in and out of sequestration. When they were first introduced, teeth-whitening kits, for example, were guarded as zealously as Harry Potter books before their official release dates. Some stores put empty boxes on the main floor and the real thing behind the pharmacy or customer-service counter. Then the cost of the kits came down; and they're back on shelves, with stores relying on anti-theft tags.

And Engle says the box of glycerine suppositories I saw behind one counter was probably empty because they often require refrigeration.

Products are sometimes put both behind the counter and on self-service shelves as an aid to customers. For example, the wide array of specialized products for diabetics -- blood-glucose monitors, testing strips -- is commonly behind the pharmacy counter. As a result, seemingly innocuous alcohol swabs are there, too, because it is easier to hand them to a diabetic customer -- blood-glucose meters and other diabetic supplies are customarily behind the counter -- rather than say, "You need alcohol swabs for this; so don't forget, they're in aisle 3."

Charlene Fairfax, a registered pharmacist and clinical care coordinator for CVS's diabetes/asthma center at its store on Bladensburg Road, says diabetic supplies are a good example of why many pharmacists want a third class of drugs -- the other two being prescription and over-the-counter (ones that are self-serve) -- that would always be placed behind a counter.

Diabetic products are there because "there are so many options and it's often necessary for pharmacists to tutor patients on their use," Fairfax says.

Eder conducted a survey recently in Drug Store News asking whether member pharmacists and retailers supported creating a third category of drugs that would be nonprescription but doled out by pharmacists.

Eder reported that 67 percent of respondents wanted the new category. Thirty-three percent did not.

The numbers reflect what Fairfax says is a concern in the profession that consumers don't appreciate or make use of pharmacists' extensive training and ability to advise us.

As the world has changed, pharmacists have become easier to ignore, she points out. Among other things, the profession is anxiously eyeing the mounting tendency to order cut-rate drugs for chronic conditions through the mail. Kmart has installed an automatic prescription dispenser at its Penn Station store in New York City. The machine works much like an ATM machine, with PIN numbers and credit cards. Fairfax argues that advice given by pharmacists is crucial because too many people don't read instructions, dosage limits or other drug-usage materials. She says the one-on-one provided by pharmacists can circumvent some of the serious consequences of the improper use of drugs -- extending to whether you need a sinus tablet or another that targets one of the more than 100 rhinovirus subtypes.

But getting us cozy with our pharmacist isn't a simple proposition. There's a nationwide shortage of them -- at one point, there were some 6,000 vacancies among chain drugstores. Plus, at this point, they're giving their advice and time for free in the midst of busy workdays.

The industry is watching a provision in the Medicare Modernization Act that takes effect on Jan. 1. It mandates paying druggists in hospital or long-term health care pharmacies when they consult with Medicare patients who take multiple drugs for chronic illnesses. Could private health insurance companies eventually pay pharmacists for talking to us about our ailments?

Many pharmacy groups hope so, says Fairfax.

Thinking back, though, to my snail-like journey to the head of the pharmacy line the other day, I'm not so sure that I really want my pharmacist to be a people-person. I like the fact that he or she might take time to advise me about medications, but I don't like the idea of him doing it for everyone in line ahead of me.

Besides, illness can make people self-centered and chatty. Do pharmacists really want to listen to everybody's Uncle Charley go on and on and on about his upper respiratory tract and the color of his excretions?

Isn't this what bartenders are for?