Refusing Prescriptions
Posted on February 6th, 2008 – 10:12 AMBy Jobs Online
Should pharmacists have the right to refuse to fill a prescription?
3 Responses to "Refusing Prescriptions"
I don’t think that they should have that right. Sometimes pharmacists have not only refused to fill a prescription, but they don’t refer the patients to another pharmacist. If their moral beliefs make them against dispensing medicine that is recommended by doctors, maybe they should think about joining another profession.
If a phrarmacist won’t give out birth control, that’s their right. Many states have made this their legal right. But they should refer the patients to another pharmacist.
Pharmacists have a moral and ethical obligation to make patient safety and medical ethics a priority. If a pharmacist refuses to fill a prescription because of concern for the well being of the patient, then a little irritation will allow him/her to sleep well at night. After all, the patient can go back to their physician or go to another pharmacy. But a pharmacist should not be making dispensary decisions based on his/her own personal beliefs about a drug, patient or a procedure. You run into this concern when pharmacists have to dispense “the morning after pill” and other types of pharmacology. It isn’t their legal place to use their own personal judgment. They simply need to utilize their professional, and ethical acumen.
