[e-drug] Prescribing and dispensing in one hand? (7)

["Foppe van Mil" <jwfvmil@planet.nl>]

E-DRUG: Prescribing and dispensing in one hand? (7)
------------------------------------------------------------------------


The dispensing doctors issue is/was a hot topic in the FIP community
pharmacy section of FIP. I think that the previous professional secretary
still has all information.

If I remember well, in Europe at that time we identified Norway, Sweden,
Switzerland, Scotland and the Netherlands as countries where you could find
dispensing doctors. In Norway, Sweden, Scotland and the Netherlands this was
a practice in remote areas. In Switzerland doctors were (and still are) a
direct competitor of pharmacies. As far as I know, none of these medical
doctors have a pharmacy degree.

There should be no discussion about the fact that such situations
(dispensing doctors or doctoring pharmacists) should only be allowed in
emergency situations. Doctors & pharmacists are human beings too, and
doctoring + dispensing does (too) easily lead to unethical practices,
medication errors and overconsumption of medicines.

It would therefore be wise to create a law that even where someone has both
a pharmacy as well as medical degree, he/she can not practice both
professions at the same time.

Foppe van Mil, PhD
Pharmacy Practice Consultant
The Netherlands
E-mail: jwfvmil@planet.nl