Much attention is paid to the ethical obligations of doctors and surgeons as they administer lifesaving treatments to patients. However, pharmacists play a vital role in the United States’ healthcare system. Like other professionals, pharmacists must obtain and keep a valid license to practice and often face ethical challenges throughout their careers.
Trying to decide the ethical course of action in the heat of the moment is risky. Not every situation has a clear answer, nor can each quandary wait for you to deliberate over your next steps carefully. Recognizing common ethical pitfalls before you face them gives you the opportunity to consider how to respond in a way that reflects your values and protects your pharmacy license.
Top 7 Ethical Issues to Your Pharmacy License
Some of the most common ethical issues pharmacy license defense attorneys help clients with include the following:
1. Allowing Personal Beliefs to Harm Your Patients
Pharmacists can face a difficult situation if a patient presents a valid prescription that the pharmacist has personal or religious objections to. For example, a patient may present a prescription for mifepristone, which can be used with another medication to terminate pregnancy. The pharmacist might have a moral objection to filling the prescription.
Pharmacists must follow not only their state’s laws but their employers’ policies in these situations. Even if you have a personal or moral objection to a prescription, you may have an obligation to fill the prescription if your employer requires you to do so or if the patient cannot reasonably access the medication elsewhere.
2. Not Following Prescription Limits or Drug Dosage
It can be difficult to see a patient who is in pain or suffering from a condition for which they need prescription medication.
If they are out of their medication or feel they need a higher dose, it can be tempting to simply give in and provide them with additional doses. However, in taking action to alleviate their suffering, you may be committing an ethical violation.
Although pharmacists are professionals who can exercise some discretion and independent judgment, there are regulations dictating how much of a certain medication a person can receive in a set period.
Exceeding these limits can not only harm the patient but jeopardize your pharmacist’s license. In the case of narcotic drugs, you could even face criminal penalties.
3. Failing to Maintain Patient Confidentiality
As a pharmacist, you possess a significant amount of personal information about your patients. They have a legitimate expectation you will keep this information, including any diagnoses and prescriptions, confidential — unless you are legally required or permitted to disclose it.
Violations of patient confidentiality tend to happen due to carelessness, not deliberate actions. Casual conversations with colleagues about patient health information can lead to disciplinary action if others overhear it. You must remain vigilant and safeguard patients’ private and personal information under all circumstances.
4. Failing to Exercise Competence in Your Pharmacy Job Duties
Pharmacists are not medication vending machines. Your job responsibilities go beyond simply filling prescriptions that patients present to you. Instead, you are expected to exercise your professional judgment and knowledge of your patients’ personal information to provide them with medications that will help them manage their health.
If you notice a patient has been prescribed a medication they are allergic to or that interacts negatively with another prescription they are taking, you have an ethical obligation to speak up. Failing to do so can be a serious ethical breach, especially if your patient suffers harm as a result.
5. Refusing to Consult With Patients
When you dispense prescriptions to your patients, it is essential that you offer to consult with them about their medications. Offer to provide information about their dosage, potential side effects, and other information they need to safely and properly use the medicine. Doing so is not just your ethical obligation; it is essential to your patients’ health and safety.
Patients have the right to refuse a consultation. However, you do not have the ability to refuse to consult with patients. This is especially true if the patient requests to speak with you about their prescriptions. Never refuse to speak with your patients about their medications, regardless of how busy you are or what other tasks you have awaiting you.
6. Not Keeping Up With Changes in Laws and Regulations
Laws and regulations governing the dispensing of certain medications change regularly, and it is your responsibility to stay informed of these changes. There are a variety of ways to do this, including joining listservs and professional organizations. While these and similar methods may assist you, do not remain passive in fulfilling this duty.
Follow the news and legal developments at the state and national level. Maintain professional contact with other pharmacists in your area with whom you can discuss current issues in the field. Create and follow a system of actively following proposed changes in the law so that you can remain on top of the latest developments.
7. Falsifying Patient Records
“The coverup is often worse than the crime,” and so it is with making false pharmaceutical records.
Suppose that a pharmacist makes a mistake and dispenses too much of a medication or dispenses a narcotic without a valid prescription. Even if these were inadvertent errors, deliberately trying to cover them up only compounds the pharmacist’s problems.
The public’s trust in the healthcare industry depends on pharmacists and other professionals voluntarily disclosing the errors they commit. A pharmacy license defense attorney will have a much more difficult time defending the license of a pharmacist who commits an ethical violation and then attempts to cover it up.
Seek Help From an Experienced California Pharmacy License Defense Attorney
S J Harris Law and our skilled pharmacy license defense attorney are available to help you respond to disciplinary and ethical complaints. Do not risk your reputation and career in attempting to handle allegations of misconduct yourself.
Contact S J Harris Law for knowledgeable guidance and effective advocacy in responding to ethical issues affecting your license.
