Medication Related Questions to Ask Your Health Care Provider
- Is a medication really necessary to treat this problem? Many conditions are amenable to nondrug therapy, or a dose of Tincture of Time.
- Are there any drug or food interactions I should be concerned about?
- How does this drug go through my body?
- Is that different than for a young person?
- How fast does this drug work and how soon can I expect a response?
- What are the most common side effects of this drug?
- What are, if any, serious side effects of this drug?
- What happens if I miss a dose of this medication?
- Will my insurance plan (formulary) cover the cost of this drug without an expensive co-pay?
Ron Finley
R. Ronald (Ron) Finley, BS Pharm, RPh recently retired, after 28 years as a lecturer for the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Pharmacy. Ron continues as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the School of Pharmacy and as Clinical Pharmacist in Neurology at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center-Alzheimer’s Research Center where he works closely with neurologist and psychiatrist. Mr. Finley also is a Consultant Pharmacist for the Institute on Aging at the Alzheimer’s Day Care Center in San Francisco and a consultant to the Parkinson’s Disease Institute. He received his pharmacy degree from St. Louis College of Pharmacy in 1959.
Ron has focused his recent research efforts on assessing pharmacotherapy in the areas of frontal temporal dementia and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, in addition to evaluating use of alternative medicine in neurology and their potential interactions with medications. He has spoken as an invited lecturer for numerous international, national, and local seminars and has authored or contributed to numerous articles, monographs, book reviews, and various other publications in his field. He as also associate editor of the Rx Consultant, a nationally distributed drug therapy newsletter.
Mr. Finley also has developed many continuing education programs at UCSF in the area of geriatric pharmacy practice. He is an active member in many professional societies, including the American Society of Health Systems Pharmacists, American Geriatrics Society, American Pharmaceutical Association, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists. American Academy of Neurology, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
