Pharmacy Ethics: Beneficence

• Ethical considerations in pharmacy practice involve several key principles.

Beneficence

• Beneficence focuses on acting in the patient's best interest.
• Doing good and benefiting others is the aim of beneficence.
• The patient and anyone affected by an ethical decision should benefit.
• Beneficence is the first principle in the Code of Ethics, prioritizing patient care.
• Morality requires active assistance, not just avoiding interference.
• Professionals may feel that they know what is best.
• Child patients may be left out of decision-making due to education and understanding limitations.
• Disparities in power, information, and experience may lead to paternalistic practices.
• Paternalistic conflicts can arise when pharmacists are involved concerning medication requests or information disclosure.
• An example relates to beneficence is that some elderly women refuse to take antihyperlipidemic drugs due to cancer concerns.
• Atorvastatin treats high cholesterol and triglycerides.
• Side effects of Atorvastatin include increased heart rate, high blood pressure, heart disease, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache, insomnia, reduced appetite, depression, difficulty concentrating and potentially lung cancer.

Autonomy

• Autonomy respects patients' rights to make decisions.
• Individuals have the right to make their own choices and decisions.
• This right is tempered if decisions could harm others.
• The individual's ability to understand the issues is important.
• Pharmacists may face conflicts between a patient's right to information and a physician's choice to withhold information.

Honesty and Integrity

• Maintaining truthfulness and moral principles is vital to honesty and integrity.
• Honesty involves telling the truth to others.
• Integrity involves telling the truth to oneself and doing the right thing, even when unacknowledged or inconvenient.

Informed Consent

• Ensuring patients are fully informed for informed consent.
• Principle 3 of the Code of Ethics requires respect for others.
• Obtaining consent from patients for services, treatments, or information use is a legal and professional duty.
• Competent patients have the right to refuse services, treatment, or permission to use their information.

Consent Types

• Informed consent can be verbal or written, with full understanding.
• Implied consent is inferred from actions, not explicitly stated.

Consent Requirements

• Individuals who are consenting must be capable of making the decision.
• Individuals who are consenting must be acting voluntarily.
• Individuals who are consenting must have sufficient information to weigh the decision.
• Individuals who are consenting must be older than 16 years old.
• Individuals who are consenting must face no danger to their life.

Confidentiality

• Protecting patient privacy is key to confidentiality.
• Pharmacist have an ethical and legal duty of confidentiality.
• Principle 3 of the Code of Ethics requires to use patient information only for the purpose it was obtained.
• This principle is in addition to legal data protection requirements.
• It is unethical to discuss or disclose personal patient information.
• Data can be disclosed in requests from other pharmacists and general practitioners for patient safety.
• Data can be disclosed to police officers or investigators in serious criminal investigations.
• Data can be disclosed if there is a greater public health issue by protecting privacy and confidentiality.

Fidelity

• Fidelity involves keeping promises and commitments.