The 21st Show

Pharmacist Breaks To Reduce Errors; Illinois Politics Update; Financial Independence for Young Adults

By Christine Herman, Alan Montecillo, Libby Foster and Anna Casey
 

sharyn morrow/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

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Pharmacists have been making dangerous errors caused, in part, by being overworked. Now Illinois lawmakers are proposing a bill that would require them to take more breaks. Plus, State Rep. Luis Arroyo has resigned after being arrested on federal bribery charges. All this as the General Assembly wrapped up week one of this year’s veto session. And, even though a majority of Americans think young adults should be financially independent by age 22, few actually are. We talk about what stands in the way.

Pharmacist Breaks To Reduce Errors

Pharmacists can fill hundreds of prescriptions in a single shift. And those shifts can be long, sometimes 12 hours or more.  

The demands of the job can leave room for errors, which could put patients at risk. Every year, tens of thousands of people in the U.S. are hospitalized as a result of dangerous drug interactions.

A 2016 investigation by The Chicago Tribune looked at 255 Chicago-area pharmacies and found that more than half of them had failed to warn patients and caregivers about dangerous drug combinations.

Now, lawmakers are working on legislation to try and prevent this. 

Ray Long reported that story for the Tribune back in 2016. Dr. Lakesha Butler is a clinical associate professor of pharmacy at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and also provides medication management and diabetes education to uninsured patients in St. Charles, Missouri, just across the border from Illinois. She’s also president of the National Pharmaceutical association. 

Illinois Politics Update: Veto Session and Rep. Arroyo Resigns

The Illinois General Assembly has wrapped up its first week of what’s called the veto session. That’s when state lawmakers take up bills that the governor vetoed earlier in the year.

But Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker has vetoed far fewer bills than his Republican predecessor, Bruce Rauner. So lawmakers are also taking the opportunity to propose and vote on other legislation. 

And all the while federal authorities are continuing with a massive investigation into state and local officials that most recently, led to the resignation of a state representative.

Jerry Nowicki is a reporter with Capitol News Illinois. And Amanda Vinicky is a correspondent with WTTW Chicago Tonight. 

Financial Independence for Young Adults

For many people in their early 20s, moving out of the house, and supporting yourself, can be a huge milestone of adulthood. 

But between the rising cost of housing, mounting student loan debt and low starting wages, it can be difficult for many young people to gain financial independence.

Even though a majority of Americans think young adults should be financially independent by age 22 less than a quarter of young adults actually are. That’s according to a new study from The PEW Research Center. 

Phillip Braun is a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Cori Dahl is a senior studying speech and hearing science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

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