The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 266 No 7153 p852-856
June 23, 2001

  Medicines promotions
  GlaxoSmithKline
  Monitired dosage systems
  The Profession
  NHS
  Parallel trading
  Dressings
  Checking technicians
  Code of Ethics
  SGM
  Onlooker
  The Journal

Dressings

Stock replenishment

From Mr J. P. Smith, MRPharmS

As I am handing Mrs Bloggs her carrier bag full of bandages and Melolin she tells me that she is dropping it back to the surgery for the nurse to replace the dressings used on her leg ulcer. It now appears that I may be guilty of aiding and abetting a fraudulent transaction. Since I am losing sleep over this weighty issue, can I have a definitive answer from Lambeth on the above scenario?

Paul Smith
Louth, Lincolnshire

STEPHEN LUTENER, head of pharmacy law, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, replies:

Mr Smith asks for a definitive reply as to the pharmacist’s liability. Only the courts can give a definitive ruling, but any pharmacist who becomes aware, after handing over dressings to a patient, that they are to be handed to the surgery for the replenishment of stock, should bring the matter to the attention of the health authority, preferably in writing.

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