From Miss E. A. Hackett, MRPharmS, and Miss S. A. Francis, MRPharmS
SIR,—We were pleased to read Weiss and Hanlon’s recent article calling
for the profession of pharmacy to engage in debate regarding the role of pharmacists
in physician-assisted suicide (PAS).1 Research conducted
in Britain among general practitioners and hospital consultants found that doctors
do receive requests by patients actively to hasten death and that some doctors
have complied with these requests.2 We believe it is reasonable
to question whether pharmacists are dispensing the drugs implicated, knowingly
or unknowingly.
We have recently completed a survey of 288 hospital and community pharmacists
that investigated their views and experiences of requests for, and involvement
in, PAS and voluntary active euthanasia (VAE). Our preliminary findings echo
those of Hanlon et al.3 We found that about a third of respondents
did not want to know the purpose of the drugs they were dispensing if they were
intended for PAS and/or VAE. A similar number of respondents reported that it
was acceptable for a prescriber to withhold the intended purpose of these drugs
from the pharmacist. A quarter of the respondents stated that they would knowingly
dispense drugs intended for PAS or VAE at the present time. The data suggested
that some pharmacists were unaware of the possible legal implications resulting
from such involvement. For this reason in particular we would like to encourage
our professional body to discuss these issues.
We believe that belonging to the pharmacy profession includes resolving ethical
dilemmas and making professional judgments in the best interests of each individual
patient. We do not wish to be protocol-driven; we want our involvement in pharmaceutical
care to be more than a “McPharmacy experience”.4
As Weiss and Hanlon requested,1 let us take the initiative now and grasp the
opportunity to debate this issue openly before future legislation dictates our
role.
Elizabeth Hackett
Sally Anne Francis
Centre for Practice and Policy,
School of Pharmacy,
University of London