Posted on 02/22/2014 7:50:33 AM PST by Kaslin
“A pharmacist’s mandate includes dispensing the correct drug for the patient’s disease, and the pharmacist is both ethically and legally liable if a drug is dispensed for an inappropriate indication.”
It is legal in all 50 states to prescribe drugs for “off-label” indications.
These indications are usually supported by medical research of which the pharmacist may often be unaware.
An example is beta blockers, originally approved for treatment of hypertension, but widely used to control tachycardia in atrial fibrillation and hyperthyroidism for many years before that indication was approved my the FDA.
Thus, it is not up to a pharmacist to pass judgement on the indication.
There is a difference between “off-label” and “inappropriate.” If a drug is prescribed that seems inappropriate to the stated indication, or could endanger a patient, it is the pharmacist’s duty to check, and indeed refuse the prescription if his or her concerns are not satisfied. Pharmacists can and have been held liable when they failed to do so and the patient was harmed.
Do you mind sharing which type/brand you are using? I have been researching this topic lately and I would value your input. Thanks very much.
We started with Sovereign Silver, which was reliable but expensive. I am playing with a colloidal silver generator. We’ll see.
Thank you, sir.
Glad it is helping you — best of luck.
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I will tell you that there is no more art of diagnosis.
Two friends had gallbladders removed in the past year.
Both got very ill afterwards and were ill for a years.
Sludge in the duct of one woman
The other one just died of same symptoms as the first.
Had a 30 year old acquaintance go to the ED, with l quadrant pain. A slam dunk for appendicitis.
Undiagnosed until it burst.
I am shocked by the level of poor medical care in highly regarded facilities. No diagnostic capabilities.
“If a drug is prescribed that seems inappropriate to the stated indication, or could endanger a patient, it is the pharmacists duty to check, and indeed refuse the prescription if his or her concerns are not satisfied.”
I understand.
However, the intrusion of insurance company-run drug plans where there is usually a non-pharmacy trained clerical staff reviewing doctors’ orders, not having the benefit of medical history, patient interviews or lab data is far different from a neighborhood pharmacist who knows his patient or a hospital Pharm D who makes rounds with the medical team and advises therapeutic options.
It is especially ridiculous when I am advised by the insurance co. drug plan that there are drug-drug interactions when I combine isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutal and pyrizinamide to treat tuberculosis.
That this generates the need for a phone call or faxes is truly idiotic.
“Cookbook” medicine is rapidly becoming the norm.
That is what is taught in med school now. One must
follow the “standard of care” meaning if someone
presents with symptom X or history Y you order tests
A B and C. If you believe you know what is wrong and
do not order those tests and your are incorrect you
cannot defend yourself in court...you failed to meet
“standards of care”. This phenomenon leads to doctors
who don’t do good physical exams, who do not take a
complete history and who merely rely on technology to
provide them an eventual answer....even if they have
to bankrupt the patient and give them leukemia from all
the lab and radiology exams they subject them to.
True doctors who practice medicine are becoming increasingly rare.....med schools and the legal
climate are producing physicians who are not doctors,
they cannot practice medicine, they are merely proctors,
they oversee massive numbers of expensive tests.
Strongly agreed.
It is especially ridiculous when I am advised by the insurance co. drug plan that there are drug-drug interactions when I combine isoniazid, rifampin, ethambutal and pyrizinamide to treat tuberculosis.
*facepalm*
Be careful with that colloidal silver. It can make you turn blue. Once it gets in you, it doesn’t get out. Google “argyria”.
Good grief, don't you think that every manufacturer of that product doesn't address that question? It takes a huge dose.
My wife had appendicitis at one point. After a day of not feeling well, I googled her symptoms, and got her to call our doctor, who told her to go to the ER.
At the ER, I said the magic words "Our primary care doctor told us to come because he thinks it's appendicitis". The ER triage nurse is not doing to second-guess a doctor, so she sends us into the ER for tests. Got it taken out that evening.
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
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