Law Commons^™

Aligning Opioid Prescribing Pathways, Andrea Lai, Outpatient Pharmacy, Haley Pelletier, Suneela Nayak, Stephen Tyzik, Ruth Hanselman

MaineHealth Maine Medical Center

There is a drug epidemic sweeping the State of Maine and it continues to worsen each passing year. In 2017, the Maine legislature passed Public Law Chapter 488 to strengthen the controlled substance prescription monitoring program. An outpatient pharmacy, located in a large acute care hospital, created a performance improvement project to clarify opioid prescription and resolve any non-compliance with Chapter 488.

After a root cause analysis, several KPIs were established to include tracking the number of phone calls made by pharmacists to non-compliant providers to clarify scripts, provide one on one education and ultimately resolve non-compliance. Repeat offenders were …

The Pharmaceutical Access And Prudent Purchasing Act Of 1990: Federal Law Shifts The Duty To Warn From The Physician To The Pharmacist, Michael J. Holleran R.Ph.

Akron Law Review

This article will first discuss the legislation recently enacted as part of the budget reduction package passed by Congress in late 1990 and how that legislation will affect pharmacists' liability. Second, the article will address the applicable statutes of limitation regarding pharmacists in particular and within the general area of malpractice. Third, the applicable standard of care will be explored as it pertains to pharmacists as well as physicians. Coupled with the standard of care discussion is an overview of the various theories of liability which physicians and pharmacists currently face and how these may change under the Act. Finally, …

Public Perception Study 2011: Mental Illness, Drug And Alcohol Abuse, Oscar T. Mcknight

Oscar T McKnight Ph.D.

This study examined the public perception of mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse. Field-interviews with participants occurred "on the street" with no difficulty. Participants offered ten general recommendations to professionals developing programs for mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse. The public stressed the professional responsibilities of physicians, pharmacists, counselors and teachers to prevent drug abuse.

The Constitutional Right To Refuse: Roe, Casey, And The Fourteenth Amendment Rights Of Healthcare Providers, Mark L. Rienzi

Mark L Rienzi

The Fourteenth Amendment rights of various parties in the abortion context—the pregnant woman, the fetus, the fetus’ father, the state—have been discussed at length by commentators and the courts. Surprisingly, the Fourteenth Amendment rights of the healthcare provider asked to provide the abortion have not. Roe and Casey establish a pregnant woman’s Fourteenth Amendment right to decide for herself whether to have an abortion. Do those same precedents also protect her doctor’s right to decide whether to participate in abortion procedures?

The Court’s substantive due process analysis typically looks for rights that are “deeply rooted” in our history and traditions. …

Conscientious Objection And Pharmacists' Professional Obligation To Ensure Access To Legitimately Prescribed Medication, Andrea N. Lee

Andrea N Lee

This paper discusses legal issues surrounding pharmacists who refuse to dispense emergency contraception based on their religious views. One study reports up to thirty-one percent of pharmacists admit to not dispensing emergency contraception based on their moral or religious beliefs, leading to women’s limited access to a second chance to prevent pregnancy when their regular preventative method fails. Without a limitation on when pharmacists can deny patients access to legitimately prescribed medication, women’s fundamental right to choose whether to bear a child is no longer her choice, but her pharmacist’s choice. Legislatures must require pharmacists to act in their patient’s, …

The Constitutional Right Not To Participate In Abortions: Roe, Casey, And The Fourteenth Amendment Rights Of Healthcare Providers, Mark L. Rienzi

Scholarly Articles

The Fourteenth Amendment rights of various parties in the abortion context – the pregnant woman, the fetus, the fetus’ father, the state – have been discussed at length by commentators and the courts. Surprisingly, the Fourteenth Amendment rights of the healthcare provider asked to provide the abortion have not. Roe and Casey establish a pregnant woman’s Fourteenth Amendment right to decide for herself whether to have an abortion. Do those same precedents also protect her doctor’s right to decide whether to participate in abortion procedures?

The Court’s substantive due process analysis typically looks for rights that are “deeply rooted” in …

Duty To Fill? Threats To Pharmacists’ Professional And Business Discretion, Erica L. Norey

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Rights Collide: In A Battle Between Pharmacists' Right Of Free Exercise And Patients' Right To Access Contraception, Who Wins?, Jacqueline Gilbert

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Pharmacists, Physician-Assisted Suicide, And Pain Control, Alan Meisel

Articles

One of the unintended consequences of the decade-old public debate about the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is an increased interest in pain control for terminally ill patients. Pain control and other aspects of palliative care are seen not only as medically desirable but as necessary to assure so as to minimize the pressure to legalize physician-assisted suicide or utilize physician-assisted suicide even if not legal. Most of the public debate has centered on the role of physicians in assisted suicide.

However, there has been very little discussion about the role that health care professionals - - other than physicians -- …

Professions And Businesses Physicians, Physician's Assistants, And Respiratory Care: Authorize Prescription Of Certain Controlled Substances And Medical Devices By Physician's Assistants, Kimberly A. Stout

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act allows physician’s assistants to prescribe certain controlled substances pursuant to authority delegated by their supervising physician. The Act establishes requirements for both the physician’s assistant and the supervising physician in prescribing controlled substances. Additionally, the Act provides that there shall be no presumption of civil or criminal liability against a pharmacist who fills a prescription issued by a physician’s assistant. Lastly, the Act requires the Composite Board of Medical Examiners to adopt certain rules and regulations consistent with the Act.

Evidence Witness Generally: Limit Circumstances In Which Pharmacists May Be Required To Release Medical Information About Patients, James R. Westbury Jr.

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act prohibits a pharmacist from being required to release medical information about a patient, unless there is a written waiver by the patient or the patient's legal representative, a court order, or subpoena requiring release. Pharmacists releasing information pursuant to a waiver, court order, or subpoena are not liable for doing so. Patients waive the limited privilege of confidentiality provided to the Act to the extent that they their care of treatment at injuries in issue in an administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding.

Pharmacy, Law, And The U.C.C., And Patent Medicines, John J. Kuchinski

Cleveland State Law Review

The primary legal concern of the pharmacist has been and continues to be in the field of negligence. With the increasing legal awareness of society, however, it becomes imperative to examine what liabilities may arise under the U.C.C. The main objective of this paper is to explore the possible areas of liability that may arise under the Code in the sale of patent medicines by the pharmacist.

Damages - Mental Anguish - Recovery Denied For Mental Anguish Arising Out Of Negligent Injury To Personal Property, Robert M. Warren

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff placed an order with defendant pharmacist to have a rare photograph of plaintiff's deceased mother reproduced, the work to be done by defendant corporation. When the original picture was returned to plaintiff, it was stained, cracked, and otherwise disfigured, by reason of which plaintiff claimed he was caused physical and mental anguish. Held, plaintiff's recovery is limited to nominal damages. Furlan v. Rayon Photo Works, Inc.., 171 Misc. 839, 12 N. Y. S. (2d) 921 (1939).