With access to records comes greater responsibility
Recent proposals to give pharmacists access to patients’ medical records have prompted David Reissner to consider the legal implications in the light of cases he has been involved in
Recent proposals to give pharmacists access to patients' medical records have reminded me of several cases I have been involved in regarding dispensing and prescribing errors. I once represented a pharmacist at a disciplinary hearing who had dispensed a prescription for 100mg sustained release morphine (MST) when the prescriber meant to prescribe 10mg. The patient had not used that particular pharmacy for some months so, wrongly, the pharmacist did not question the prescriber or patient on noting that the PMR did not show previous prescriptions for a strength of MST greater than 10mg. Sadly the patient died. The pharmacist received a reprimand. Many years ago, when a GP prescribed an overdose of Migril for a patient who was severely injured and a pharmacist dispensed the prescription accurately, the high court recognised the professionalism of pharmacists when ruling that they owe patients a duty of care to ensure that prescribed medication is appropriate for a patient, not merely that it is in accordance with a prescription. Mr Justice Stuart-Smith described it as an "active duty" that is independent of the duty of care owned by a prescriber. |
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The duty of care pharmacists owe to patients will place a greater obligation on them to check the records and take them into consideration |