The key to happiness in 2016

A new year is upon us and reflection is a must.Are those illusive New Year’s wishes for “Happiness, Peace, and Prosperity” even slightly attainable?While some things in life are beyond our control—take the Vancouver quake that shook me from sleep last December, for example—others, such as our attitudes and actions, can help to make or break 2016.Someone once told me that the secret to happiness lies in self-reflection and openness to goodness, beauty and truth, which in turn entails acknowledging mistakes and being willing to change.So what will I change this year?On the personal level, there are umpteen things to work on. On the professional level, I have a big confession to make.After years of resistance, I am converted to the beauty and goodness of automation and to the truth that registered techs can be a great help. Yes, and I am even jabbing more patients than ever (with flu shots, that is).My conversion was gradual but permanent, as all good conversions should be, and it will require that I constantly upgrade my skills.Let me give you some background…In the past year we underwent renos, upgraded our software, sharpened our compounding skills and finally said yes to automated, centrally filled blister packs that are checked by a tech and delivered to our doorstep in just days.Whereas we used to spend countless hours on-site filling and checking hundreds of packs each month, our new automation has lifted a huge burden. No more packs piled up and stock bottles in baskets, no more lost bottles and bottles to put away… more time to chat with patients and more energy left over to brush up on clinical skills and to lend a helping-hand out front.Yes, the burden of piled up bottles is gone.What happiness!And happiness is what makes life worth living.But again, the secret to happiness lies in self-reflection and openness to truth, which in turn entails acknowledging mistakes and being willing to change. This does not mean that all change is good.Well thought-out, permanent change requires deep reflection, not just accepting advances.Truth, after all, is truth and a pre-requisite for happiness is life itself.Take, for instance, those who would have us believe that physician-assisted suicide is not killing, that suffering should be alleviated at all costs—even at the expense of perverting the medical profession—and that suffering cannot co-exist with inner happiness and peace.If a doctor asked you in 2016 for advice about what lethal drug to use to help someone commit suicide, how would you respond? And how would you react if you were asked to dispense a lethal drug to help a patient commit suicide?Interestingly, the American Pharmacists Association discourages pharmacists from participating in executions by lethal injection. The group's decision is based on the idea that participating in intentional deaths is contrary to the core values of healthcare providers.And yet in Quebec, with other provinces soon to follow, pharmacists are preparing euthanasia kits.While some may argue that execution of criminals is not akin to the assisted suicide of willing patients, think about misdiagnosis or deterioration of the elderly caused by adverse drug reactions.Quebec has already developed a guide that shows doctors how to end a patient's life. These were developed after the college reviewed processes used by the Netherlands and other countries where doctor-assisted death is legal.But no one talks about the problems in the Netherlands. There, death has been extended to the depressed and to people who have lost their partners.Like switching to the ease of automation, we can readily default to the quicker and easier solution of “curing the pain” by killing the patient. We can begin to perceive the elderly as a bunch of piled up bottles to be put away.As per Dutch Professor Theo Boer , who for nine years reviewed on behalf of the government whether a euthanasia case was conducted in accordance with the law, “euthanasia is a road with no visible end”.“Don’t make our mistake,” he said.While saying no to medical treatment is not euthanasia or assisted suicide. It is not murder and it is not ethically a problem, intentionally killing a patient is always wrong.Besides, killing is bad for business.So what changes will you be making this year?Let’s hope that many pharmacists will act in accordance with beauty, goodness and truth for a happy and prosperous 2016!Cristina Alarcon is a Vancouver pharmacist and writer. She holds a master’s degree in bioethics.

The key to happiness in 2016

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Cristina Alarcon