Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Mar;83(2):7301.
doi: 10.5688/ajpe7301.

The Conscience of a Pharmacist

Brian L Erstad  1
Affiliations

The Conscience of a Pharmacist

Brian L Erstad. Am J Pharm Educ. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

The purpose of this commentary is to attempt to provide some insight into conscience-clause cases from the perspective of a pharmacist and an academician. Health professionals, including pharmacists, have a social contract with the patients we serve in which the patients give us a level of status not given to non-professionals, and, in return, we agree to put the interests of our patients above our own. Therefore, any discussion of a right-to-refuse service needs to begin with a discussion of the duties and responsibilities of the health professional to the patient.

Keywords: clinical ethics; health professions; moral duties; pharmacist; pharmacy students.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Cullinane S. CNN. Walgreens pharmacist refuses to fill woman's prescription to induce a miscarriage. https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/25/health/arizona-prescription-walgreens-mis.... Published June 25, 2018. Accessed October 2, 2018.
    1. Chow K. NPR. Walgreens pharmacist refuses to provide drug for Ariz. woman with unviable pregnancy. https://www.npr.org/2018/06/25/623307762/walgreens-pharmacist-denies-dru.... Published June 25, 2018. Accessed October 2, 2018.
    1. Jacobs J. The New York Times. Transgender woman says CVS pharmacist refused to fill hormone prescription. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/20/us/cvs-pharmacy-transgender-woman-nyt.... Published July 20, 2018. Accessed October 2, 2018.
    1. Grinberg E, Campisi J. CNN. CVS apologizes after a pharmacist refused to fill a transgender woman's prescription. https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/20/health/arizona-trans-woman-cvs-pharmacist.... Published July 20, 2018. Updated July 22, 2018. Accessed October 2, 2018.
    1. Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners. The Pharmacists’ Patient Care Process. https://jcpp.net/patient-care-process/. Published May 29, 2014. Accessed October 2, 2018. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources