Ethics in Pharmacy Practice

Course overview

In the pharmacy setting, pharmacists and pharmacy staff may be guided by the Code of Ethics for Pharmacists and the principles embodied in the Oath of a Pharmacist. Ethics can be divided into three categories: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Beauchamp and Childress built on the ethical theory called principlism. They describe four principles that are foundational to ethics in biomedicine: autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice. Confidentiality may be added as a fifth foundational principle. Principlism is attractive for its simplicity, but ethical pluralism challenges this view, arguing that norms are not necessarily universal but can vary. The principles underlying medical ethics benefit patients. They drive patient-centered care, which improves patient outcomes. The principle of beneficence is not universally part of ethical standards in other professions. It promotes patient-centered care and empathy in the patient-clinician relationship. Non-maleficence requires clinicians not to harm patients. Ethics in medical practice can foster patient safety. However, not all clinicians share the same religious or moral beliefs, and difficult ethical questions arise when these beliefs conflict with codes or oaths or affect patient care.