A pharmacist has a duty of care and would be liable both to a civil action as well as being in breech of their professional rules and ethics if the were to dispense a script which they felt was potentially dangerous they could certainly sue you in turn or join you in any action against them but your signature does not provide them with an indemnity.
Having recently been involved in some work looking at errors in scripts detected by pharmacist (my interest is in improving software to reduce the risk of such errors) I can tell you that there are many GPs and patients who have good reason to be grateful for the pharmacists vigilance. I'm sure most pharmacist and GPs are able to deal with such situations in a co-operative professional way, we all make mistakes and the pharmacist role as a final check is invaluable.
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Ewan Davis
AAH Meditel - Voice +44 (1) 527 579414 Fax +44(1)527 837287
Email [log in to unmask] also at [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Katie Law [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 1998 2:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Phenergan and Babies.
In article <000001bd9458$d1ec5040$d60d93c3@jeffg01>, Jeff Green
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>Ahmad,
> This is a real world concern. I am expected to dispense these
>prescriptions.
As a chemist you have different roles - advising, dispensing, managing
etc.
Surely when we sign the script we take the responsibility.
Your role then is purely dispensing - which may include advice on how to
take it, but I would hope does not include contradicting the doctor who
signed it in front of the patient. That would be both counterproductive
and unprofessional.
This is different to your role when selling or advising.
>If I am wrong tell me why, but hiding behind the "art of medicine" isn't
>going to convince me.
There is no hiding here.
Medicine is not and never will be a precise definable science - even
within the discipline of pharmacology.
>Surely it is better to have the debate here, rather than when the parent
>presents the script and I phone the prescriber (from a less than private
>phone) during a busy surgery?
I am approachable by the chemist, I make the point of being available
for a private discussion - I would expect the courtesy that he too would
find a private place to conatct me so as not to openly question my
competence in front of any other person.
Curiously I had a child in this morning aged 18 months for whom I had
prescribed phenergan for her (parents) sleep problems about 6 weeks ago.
They had used it sparingly and sceptically, but came back to ask if it
was responsible for the improvement in her eczema. I think it is likely
that the reduction in itch had also broken that cycle as well as the
(unsociable) sleep cycle.
KT
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Katie Law
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