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Letters to the Editor
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EHC
Law or ethics first?
From Mr P. J. Clark, MRPharmS
In your leading article (PJ, 7 August, p174) you advise that pharmacists
approached by clients aged under 16 for a supply of emergency hormonal
contraception over the counter should be sympathetic and offer to help
the client obtain EHC by a more appropriate route.
The first key responsibility of a pharmacist, as stated in the Code of
Ethics, is to act in the interests of patients and seek to provide the
best possible health care for the community in partnership with other
health professions.
Bearing that in mind, what would be “a more appropriate route” for
a client presenting in a rural pharmacy on a Saturday afternoon? Are
you suggesting that pharmacists should send the client to an already
over-burdened accident and emergency department which may be many miles
away?
In my opinion pharmacists should consider the consequences of not supplying
EHC and not just use the letter of the law as an excuse for failing to
fulfil their key responsibilities.
I am sure it would be a great comfort for practising pharmacists to know
that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society would back them if they did decide
to put their client’s interests before the law.
Peter Clark
Senior Lecturer, Pharmacy Practice
Portsmouth University
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LYNSEY BALMER, pharmacy adviser, fitness to practise and legal affairs
directorate, Royal Pharmaceutical Society, replies:
Pharmacists can often
be faced with situations where legislative and ethical requirements
conflict. When presented with an ethical dilemma, pharmacists are expected
to use
their professional judgement in deciding the most appropriate course
of action. This requires identification and evaluation of the risks
and benefits
associated with the each of the possible courses of action.
Pharmacists must be able to justify the decision they make. At times
there may be no right or wrong answer and when faced with a single
set of circumstances
different people may reach different decisions, each of which is justifiable. |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal