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Can someone give me examples of some ethical questions in pharmacy?
ethical questions
- Thread starter BRUINGOLD
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To Take the Oxycontin or Not to take the Oxycontin... that is the question..... (Insert Rx Med name of choice there...)
Oh, Mrs. Jones.... I see here that your physician has instructed you to take ALL of these birth control pills TODAY...
Oh, Mrs. Jones.... I see here that your physician has instructed you to take ALL of these birth control pills TODAY...
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Well, Gina, I know its none of my business, but I don't think you should date this guy anymore.... He's been in to get a lot of Aldara lately........
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LOL. That's so funny.
"Like a lot of things in life, we laugh because it's funny, and we laugh because it's true."
- Al Capone (untouchables)
An ethical question, other than the syringe issue, might be whether or not you would fill a script for the morning after pill if you had religious objections. Would you tell a woman that her husband just came in with a script for valtrex and a 1g pouch of zithromax? What about if her 19 year old daughter just brought that same script in?
"Like a lot of things in life, we laugh because it's funny, and we laugh because it's true."
- Al Capone (untouchables)
An ethical question, other than the syringe issue, might be whether or not you would fill a script for the morning after pill if you had religious objections. Would you tell a woman that her husband just came in with a script for valtrex and a 1g pouch of zithromax? What about if her 19 year old daughter just brought that same script in?
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Some ethical dilemmas which I have seen in retail pharmacy (some may not be applicable in all states due to differing legislation):
1) Would you fill a C-II prescription which is outside the allowable time limit?
2) Would you fill a C-II script which has been post dated?
3) Would you partial fill a C-II knowing that you are not going to receive the remainder of the script in the time allowed?
4) Will you swap your medication for physician samples with a doctor who does not want to pay for his prescription?
5) Will you acknowledge a misfill to a patient? To a partner? A partner's misfill to a patient?
6) Do you prosecute persons attempting to obtain prescriptions under false pretenses (i.e. forgery) knowing that you will have to testify, miss work, and not be compensated for your time-off?
7) Would you knowingly fill a CDS prescription written by a doctor for an immediate family member?
8) Would you report a pharmacist with an addiction to the Board of Pharmacy for action against his/her license?
9) Do you advise parents of a dose for an OTC medication for a child under the approval age for that medication?
10) If asked by a patient your opinion of their doctor, would you tell a patient you think their doctor is a nutcase and they would be better off going elsewhere if you truly thought so?
Here are my actual responses in case anyone is interested.
1) No
2) No
3) No
4) No
5) Yes, Yes, Yes
6) Yes
7) No
8) Yes
9) Yes, if I know a safe dose for that age/weight.
10) Yes
I'm sure I could think of many more true to life dilemmas if given the time and inclination.
1) Would you fill a C-II prescription which is outside the allowable time limit?
2) Would you fill a C-II script which has been post dated?
3) Would you partial fill a C-II knowing that you are not going to receive the remainder of the script in the time allowed?
4) Will you swap your medication for physician samples with a doctor who does not want to pay for his prescription?
5) Will you acknowledge a misfill to a patient? To a partner? A partner's misfill to a patient?
6) Do you prosecute persons attempting to obtain prescriptions under false pretenses (i.e. forgery) knowing that you will have to testify, miss work, and not be compensated for your time-off?
7) Would you knowingly fill a CDS prescription written by a doctor for an immediate family member?
8) Would you report a pharmacist with an addiction to the Board of Pharmacy for action against his/her license?
9) Do you advise parents of a dose for an OTC medication for a child under the approval age for that medication?
10) If asked by a patient your opinion of their doctor, would you tell a patient you think their doctor is a nutcase and they would be better off going elsewhere if you truly thought so?
Here are my actual responses in case anyone is interested.
1) No
2) No
3) No
4) No
5) Yes, Yes, Yes
6) Yes
7) No
8) Yes
9) Yes, if I know a safe dose for that age/weight.
10) Yes
I'm sure I could think of many more true to life dilemmas if given the time and inclination.
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1) Hell No
2) Just Plain No
3) Depends on the situation, but probably not.
4) Absolutely Not
5) Yes, Yes, No-- I would direct the patient to my partner.
6) YES-- its the small pleasures that make the job fun
7) No, and I would call DHEC & the BME.
8) Depends on the substance, degree of impairment, and how
successful/unsuccessful previous interventions have been.
9) Depends on the drug and the child.... its a HUUUGE liability.
10)Not in those words, but I would suggest that the patient do his/her homework.
2) Just Plain No
3) Depends on the situation, but probably not.
4) Absolutely Not
5) Yes, Yes, No-- I would direct the patient to my partner.
6) YES-- its the small pleasures that make the job fun
7) No, and I would call DHEC & the BME.
8) Depends on the substance, degree of impairment, and how
successful/unsuccessful previous interventions have been.
9) Depends on the drug and the child.... its a HUUUGE liability.
10)Not in those words, but I would suggest that the patient do his/her homework.
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>Would you knowingly fill a CDS prescription written by a doctor for an immediate family member?
>7) No, and I would call DHEC & the BME.
Why would you do this? The law may be diffent where you are, but here, the practice is common. If a physician's daughter had diarrhea you wouldn't fill an RX for difenoxin/atropine? Not only that, you'd report it to the BME? What would you do if the MD brought in a script for ambien for himself? I'm trying to understand the logic of this, as it is beyond me why it should be this way. If it is the law, then I understand completely, as well as obvious abuses such as the md bringing in a script for 100 percocets. However, I fail to see the problem if a physician treats a child's/wife's cough in a manner consistent with how he would treat anyone else's ailment.
>7) No, and I would call DHEC & the BME.
Why would you do this? The law may be diffent where you are, but here, the practice is common. If a physician's daughter had diarrhea you wouldn't fill an RX for difenoxin/atropine? Not only that, you'd report it to the BME? What would you do if the MD brought in a script for ambien for himself? I'm trying to understand the logic of this, as it is beyond me why it should be this way. If it is the law, then I understand completely, as well as obvious abuses such as the md bringing in a script for 100 percocets. However, I fail to see the problem if a physician treats a child's/wife's cough in a manner consistent with how he would treat anyone else's ailment.
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Yeah, that response was based solely on the controlled substance & pharmacy practice act for SCarolina. Writing scripts for one's self or writing CII-CV for immediate family members is a nono.
Those are the only reasons I would REPORT the violation. I wouldn't feel comfortable filling the prescription even if it weren't against the law. A physician self-treating is just as bad as anyone else self-medicating. The level of objectivity needed to rationally treat a patient is lost when self-treating or treating an immediate family member. Thats not an attack on physicians... its an across-the-board concept in my mind.
Those are the only reasons I would REPORT the violation. I wouldn't feel comfortable filling the prescription even if it weren't against the law. A physician self-treating is just as bad as anyone else self-medicating. The level of objectivity needed to rationally treat a patient is lost when self-treating or treating an immediate family member. Thats not an attack on physicians... its an across-the-board concept in my mind.
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>Yeah, that response was based solely on the controlled substance & pharmacy practice act for SCarolina. Writing scripts for one's self or writing CII-CV for immediate family members is a nono.
That makes complete sense.
>A physician self-treating is just as bad as anyone else self-medicating.
That's not true. The difference is that the MD has 7-10+ years of training learning how to do this. "Anyone else" saw a special on Oprah or the infomercial that coral calcium cures every disease know to man. There is a HUGE difference betweened the layperson and a trained professional self-medicating.
>The level of objectivity needed to rationally treat a patient is lost when self-treating or treating an immediate family member.
To an extent, you are correct. For this reasons, physicians will almost never treat a family member's serious medical condition. However, to say that an MD can't be objective when her son has a cold or she has the flu is, perhaps, a bit narrow minded.
>Thats not an attack on physicians... its an across-the-board concept in my mind.
Fair enough. It is somewhat foreign to me, as here I have seen countless doctors bring in all manner of scripts for themselves and their families. I simply couldn't imagine the fuss that would have been made had a pharmacist refused to fill a z-pack for the doctor or birth controll for his daughter or zyrtec for his wife (and on and on). To be honest, I wouldn't blame them. Physicians train at the MINIMUM for 7 years post college in a manner that few people can appreciate or even understand. To say that they have no right to treat themselves or those closest to them or that "A physician self-treating is just as bad as anyone else self-medicating" is, rightfully so, frustrating (to say the least).
Jason
That makes complete sense.
>A physician self-treating is just as bad as anyone else self-medicating.
That's not true. The difference is that the MD has 7-10+ years of training learning how to do this. "Anyone else" saw a special on Oprah or the infomercial that coral calcium cures every disease know to man. There is a HUGE difference betweened the layperson and a trained professional self-medicating.
>The level of objectivity needed to rationally treat a patient is lost when self-treating or treating an immediate family member.
To an extent, you are correct. For this reasons, physicians will almost never treat a family member's serious medical condition. However, to say that an MD can't be objective when her son has a cold or she has the flu is, perhaps, a bit narrow minded.
>Thats not an attack on physicians... its an across-the-board concept in my mind.
Fair enough. It is somewhat foreign to me, as here I have seen countless doctors bring in all manner of scripts for themselves and their families. I simply couldn't imagine the fuss that would have been made had a pharmacist refused to fill a z-pack for the doctor or birth controll for his daughter or zyrtec for his wife (and on and on). To be honest, I wouldn't blame them. Physicians train at the MINIMUM for 7 years post college in a manner that few people can appreciate or even understand. To say that they have no right to treat themselves or those closest to them or that "A physician self-treating is just as bad as anyone else self-medicating" is, rightfully so, frustrating (to say the least).
Jason
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Hey Jason... yeah, I'll definitely concede on the BC/ABX/Antihistamine point. The controlled substance thing is a different story... its just as easy to have a colleague treat/write the rx and avoid the situation altogether.
Matt
Matt
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Matt,
I can certainly agree with that. Do you know of any other states that have laws that specifically forbid MDs from writing scripts for themselves or their families?
I can certainly agree with that. Do you know of any other states that have laws that specifically forbid MDs from writing scripts for themselves or their families?
