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Letters to the Editor
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Fitness to practise
Was the pharmacist a scapegoat?
From Mr A. R. Prajapati, MRPharmS
I would like to add my voice to that of Paul
Murphy (PJ, 23/30 December
2006, p768) about the Lloyds pharmacist being sued by an American lawyer.
I can see no sensible reason why the high court judge put such blame on
the pharmacist. I believe that most of us would have just done the same
as what the Lloyds pharmacist did on that day. He was unlucky. It could
have happened to any of us.
Lots of questions arise from the ruling. Do US doctors write prescription
from pharmacy labels? If so, then it is a fault of the US prescribing system
or of the US prescriber. Why and how did the UK doctor prescribe the wrong
dose? Did the UK doctor know what he or she was prescribing for? An important
question is whether the patient informed the prescriber what dose she was
taking and what for. Now that the UK prescribing doctor and the patient
have settled out of court, is the judge right to put such blame on the
pharmacist? Is the patient free from responsibility?
Did the judge understand the community pharmacy system in UK? I doubt it,
from what he said in the court, namely that “the pharmacist should
have checked with the prescriber”. What for? It is within the normal
dosage range. And the judge did accept that much of the harm was done after
the US doctor wrote the prescription as per the pharmacy label. In my opinion
the pharmacist was just a scapegoat to calm the situation.
If the court expects such high standards then the same court should recognise
that the current community pharmacy and prescribing system is not fit for
purpose. Pharmaceutical and clinical assessment of a prescription needs
redefining if we are to believe the ruling was right.
Asta Prajapati
Basildon, Essex |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal