News

As respiratory illnesses hit area children last year, parents scrambled to find nebulizers to help their little ones breathe easier. Fortunately, with the new supplies offered at RiverView Health’s Pharmacy – including nebulizer machines and tubing – parents and children should breathe a little easier this year.

The RiverView Pharmacy now stocks a wide variety of durable medical equipment (DME). If you can’t find what you need, there’s a good chance the Pharmacy Team can order it for you.

While the RiverView Pharmacy has sold DME in the past, the offerings have expanded as RiverView departments shared input on supplies needed by their patients, and a partnership was formed with the Rehab Services Department, shared Brian Erickson, PharmD, MBA, RiverView Pharmacy director.

The following are some of the items available:

• Crutch tips
• Walker glide caps
• Self-standing cane tips
• Thermometers
• Shoulder exercise pulleys
• Blood pressure monitors
• Pulse oximeters
• Gait belts
• Hot/cold compresses
• Neti pots
• Sharps containers
• 26” reachers
• Dressing sticks
• Terry cloth sock aids
• Compression stocking aids
• Shoe horns
• Toilet paper tongs
• Theraband flex bars
• Leg lifters
• Suction bars for showers/baths
• Folding walker trays
• Pill crushers
• Pill splitters

CBD Products

Also new at RiverView’s Pharmacy is a wide variety of over-the-counter CBD (cannabidiol) products. CBD is often associated with feelings of calm and relaxation. It works to help maintain our bodies’ homeostasis. Homeostasis is a healthy state of balance and internal stability against outside or unknown factors that would otherwise disrupt how the human body would typically perform.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CBD comes from the Hemp plant, which contains more than 100 compounds (or cannabinoids). These compounds include THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is impairing or mind-altering. The CBD products sold at the RiverView Pharmacy are not impairing, meaning they do not cause a “high” because of the restricted amount of THC.

“The rules for legal CBD and THC are very strict,” Erickson shared. “Only hemp-derived cannabinoids containing less than 0.3% of THC are legal. Producers have to submit samples of each batch to an independent, accredited laboratory for analysis of their products to identify the cannabinoids present; verify potency; ensure they are free from molds, solvents, residue, heavy metals, etc.; and prove that it does not contain more than 0.3% of any THC.

“While hemp-derived THC products are legal on a state level, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) still lists them as a Schedule 1 controlled substance (high abuse potential with no accepted medical use; medications within this schedule may not be prescribed, dispensed, or administered). At the federal level, CBD derived from cannabis is also considered a Schedule 1 substance and is illegal. This means that we will not be selling them in our pharmacy, as when state and federal laws conflict, we have to follow the most strict regulation.”

Buyers of the products sold in the RiverView Pharmacy must be 21 or older, as Minnesota regulations require.

Grown in the USA Following Strict Manufacturing Practices

The RiverView Pharmacy carries the following CBD-related items

• Topical CBD products for pain relief, including a pain-relieving cream, enriched with pain-killing medicine and soothing herbal ingredients, and freeze rollers with the instant cooling relief of menthol in a unique, award- winning CBD topical.
• Tincture (a concentrated herbal extract made by soaking herbs in a liquid) and gummies to aid with sleep. These products also contain melatonin and other botanicals.
• Broad spectrum gummies used for pain, stress, wellness, etc.
• NSF (National Sanitation Foundation) Certified for Sport broad spectrum gummies. This certification ensures that you can incorporate CBD into your health and wellness routine without worrying about failing a drug test for THC. The certification is the same required by Major League Baseball and recommended by the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and more to help ensure the quality and purity of supplements.

According to Erickson, all products are USA-grown, follow GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standards, and are organic, vegan-friendly, and gluten-free.

Erickson said if people are interested, CBD products could also be ordered for their furry friends, with tinctures and chews available for dogs and tinctures for cats.

For more information on the products available at the RiverView Pharmacy, stop by weekdays from 7:30 am-7:30 pm, weekends from 9 am-3:30 pm (closed from 11:30 am-12:00 pm), or call 281.9420.

Top photo: Pharmacists Brian Erickson (left) and Braydon Gourneau look over a variety of CBD products available in the RiverView Pharmacy.
Bottom photo: Caitlyn Michno, director of Rehab Services, and Erickson review new products available for Rehab patients and others.