Pharmacist Dilemmas

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A pharmacist refuses to fill any medication prescribed by a physician that practices abortion in the area. The law protects the conscientious pharmacist from civil, legal, or disciplinary action for moral or religious belief. Therefore, in this case, both the pharmacist’s rights and patients’ right must be examined and protected without infringement. Legally, the pharmacist has a duty to fill medical scripts, but the law protects the pharmacist if he does not want to fill medication for a moral belief. Also, a pharmacist is not required to refer the patient to another pharmacist like a physician (Article). Ethically, the conscientious pharmacist impedes on the medical treatment of patients by refusing to fill medication. The ethical principle of beneficence is diminished when patients cannot receive their medication. The pharmacist beliefs about abortion should not interfere or lead to the refusal of a patient getting their medication. Patients who are chronically ill are affected by the pharmacist decision and this may lead to a possible harmful outcome.…show more content…
His decision also impacts the patients that fill their medication at that local pharmacy. The supervisor now has to make sure that the conscientious pharmacist rights will not infer with customer services. The supervisor will have to change the schedule to have another pharmacist on duty with the conscientious pharmacist. In addition, the pharmacy may lose customers if the pharmacist is on duty alone and refuses to fill medication. The customers will be inconvenient by having to travel to another pharmacy to fill their medication. The pharmacist association states that a pharmacist like a physician should have the right to refuse services based on moral or ethical belief but that pharmacist does not have the right to berate or belittle the patients

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