Bioethics Discussion Blog: July 2018

REMINDER: I AM POSTING A NEW TOPIC ABOUT ONCE A WEEK OR PERHAPS TWICE A WEEK. HOWEVER, IF YOU DON'T FIND A NEW TOPIC POSTED, THERE ARE AS OF MARCH 2013 OVER 900 TOPIC THREADS TO WHICH YOU CAN READ AND WRITE COMMENTS. I WILL BE AWARE OF EACH COMMENTARY AND MAY COME BACK WITH A REPLY.

TO FIND A TOPIC OF INTEREST TO YOU ON THIS BLOG, SIMPLY TYPE IN THE NAME OR WORDS RELATED TO THE TOPIC IN THE FIELD IN THE LEFT HAND SIDE AT TOP OF THE PAGE AND THEN CLICK ON “SEARCH BLOG”. WITH WELL OVER 900 TOPICS, MOST ABOUT GENERAL OR SPECIFIC ETHICAL ISSUES BUT NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO ANY SPECIFIC DATE OR EVENT, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND WHAT YOU WANT. IF YOU DON’T PLEASE WRITE TO ME ON THE FEEDBACK THREAD OR BY E-MAIL DoktorMo@aol.com

IMPORTANT REQUEST TO ALL WHO COMMENT ON THIS BLOG: ALL COMMENTERS WHO WISH TO SIGN ON AS ANONYMOUS NEVERTHELESS PLEASE SIGN OFF AT THE END OF YOUR COMMENTS WITH A CONSISTENT PSEUDONYM NAME OR SOME INITIALS TO HELP MAINTAIN CONTINUITY AND NOT REQUIRE RESPONDERS TO LOOK UP THE DATE AND TIME OF THE POSTING TO DEFINE WHICH ANONYMOUS SAID WHAT. Thanks. ..Maurice

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Monday, July 30, 2018

Pharmacist:: Just Filling Prescriptions or Should They Also Diagnose?









      There may be some confusion about the full role of the professional pharmacist in medical care. The patient, with
prescription from a physician in hand may consider the 
diagnostic phase completed and comes to the pharmacist for
the prescribed medication to take for their physician identified
illness.  On the other hand, pharmacists after their studies and

But, "Changes to modernize traditional medical education and care delivery are, in fact, currently being introduced, with interdisciplinary health professional teams emerging as a core element of new models. Before graduates of different health programs are assigned practice responsibilities, however, many questions still need to be answered: What are the core functions and responsibilities of practitioners in each profession? What is the minimum education and training needed for someone to attain the core competencies required to perform these functions well and safely? Where do the different professions intersect and where could the public benefit from services offered by more than one provider? How can interprofessional learning and practice environments foster and support collaboration? How can we prevent turf battles and encourage true collaborative, patient-centred, complementary care?"

So, the question to my blog readers is whether, as a patient, you would think that pharmacists should taught further to play the bigger role as diagnostician beyond screening and packing medication already prescribed by the examining physician? Are you satisfied with the relationship you have with your licensed pharmacist? Would you want your pharmacist to learn and carry out more clinical responsibility?  Physicians in the past and occasionally now have dispensed medication to their office patients after making a diagnosis. Should pharmacists take on a bit of the responsibility of making a diagnosis based on their more limited pharmacy school and hospital internship experiences? How do you want your pharmacist to be interacting with you as a patient? ..Maurice. 


 Graphic: From Google Images and NIDDK Image Library.





Sunday, July 01, 2018

Patient Modesty: Volume 89





I took the above photograph of a "dirty" pond this morning (Descanso Gardens, Southern California) because it struck me as analogous with what is currently being written on this thread about the medical system which we are all experiencing.  Each fragment of  "dirt" was actually part of adjacent beautiful and organized plantings but each fragment going their own way ended up in this pond no one would want to enter..  Is this analogy consistent with the current medical care system? Worthy parts from the past and elsewhere but now just a "dirty pond" ..Maurice.

AS OF AUGUST 4 2018, NO FURTHER COMMENTS TO THIS VOLUME WILL BE ACCEPTED.  COMMENTS CAN CONTINUE ON :"PATIENT MODESTY: VOLUME 90".