The profession of pharmacist is governed by several statutes, including the Professional Code, the Pharmacy Act and the Code of Ethics of Pharmacists. The Pharmacy Act defines the practice of pharmacy as consisting of:
Evaluate and ensure the appropriate use of medications to detect and prevent pharmacotherapeutic problems, and prepare, store and dispense medications for the purpose of maintaining health, restoring health or providing appropriate symptom relief.
Acts exclusively reserved for pharmacists
As a pharmacist, certain activities are exclusively reserved for you, such as:
- Issue a pharmaceutical opinion;
- Assess a person’s physical and mental condition to ensure appropriate use of medications;
- Preparing medications;
- Monitor drug therapy;
- Initiating, adjusting, or discontinuing a patient’s drug therapy.
Disciplinary complaint for breach of ethics
As a pharmacist, you are subject to ethical obligations set out in the Professional Code and the Code of Ethics of Pharmacists. When you are accused of having breached your professional obligations, you may face disciplinary recourse. The syndic of the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec, who is an independent employee within the Order, is responsible for protecting the public by ensuring that there is no inappropriate or unethical practice of the profession. To do so, the pharmacist may conduct an investigation into a pharmacist, either when requested or on his own initiative, if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that the pharmacist has breached his or her ethical obligations. If he concludes that this is the case, he will file a complaint against the pharmacist with the Disciplinary Council. As pharmacy is a highly regulated field, it can be complex to navigate disciplinary requirements. At Lambert Lawyers, we support you and defend your rights in the event of lawsuits brought by your professional order. Don’t face a disciplinary process alone: contact us now for specialized legal assistance in professional law, and benefit from a rigorous defense adapted to your situation.
Duties and obligations of pharmacists
As pharmacists, you are subject to several obligations, some common to all professions, others specific to pharmacists. It is the violation of one or more of these obligations that will lead the syndic to open an investigation and file a complaint. Thus, you not only have the obligation to comply with the various laws to which you are subject, but to take reasonable measures to ensure that the people who collaborate with you in the practice of pharmacy also comply with them. As a pharmacist, you are subject to different types of duties: general duties, duties to the public, duties to the patient and duties to the profession. Let us analyze some of these duties.
General duties
As a pharmacist, your primary duty is to protect and promote the health and well-being of your patients, including helping them get the most out of their drug therapy. To do so, you must practise pharmacy independently, always with respect for confidentiality, the fundamental rights and freedoms of the person as well as your ethical obligations, in particular that of preserving the honour, dignity and integrity of the profession. Finally, you have an active role to play in contributing to the development of pharmacy by sharing your knowledge as well as participating in activities, continuing education and internships.
Duties and obligations to the public
It is important to remember that as a pharmacist, you are partly responsible for your pharmacist’s relationship with the public. This includes a role to play in ensuring reasonable availability and continuity of pharmacy services in the community or region where you practice, while making judicious use of health care resources. In addition, you have a role to play in educating and informing the public : you must support and disseminate any measures that promote the improvement of the health of the public, using your personal knowledge and respect for science.
Duties and obligations to the patient
At all times, you must be of irreproachable conduct towards any person with whom you come into contact in the practice of the profession, including your patient. Thus, it is your duty to establish a relationship of mutual trust with your patient, and not to abuse this relationship. This relationship is characterized by an impersonal practice of pharmacy: you must refrain from interfering in the patient’s personal affairs that are not related to health, and, except in cases of emergency, refrain from interfering when your personal convictions interfere with your good judgment and impartiality. Since it is your duty to practise impartially, you cannot refuse to provide pharmacy services to a patient on discriminatory grounds.
Duties regarding the quality of pharmacy practice and termination of services
It is not enough to practice pharmacy impartially, the services provided must also be of high quality. As such, you must practise your profession competently, according to scientifically acceptable data and recognized professional standards, and taking into account your abilities, limitations and the means at your disposal. You must refrain from practising pharmacy in circumstances or conditions that are likely to compromise the quality of your practice, the honour or dignity of the profession, in particular by being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Your practice must be in the best interests of the patient; You must therefore refuse to provide any pharmaceutical service that would be harmful to the patient. You also have a duty to inform your patient by providing them with the necessary explanations to understand the services they are receiving and to advise them on the options available to them. This duty also includes the obligation to respect your patient’s right to have access to his or her records, except where disclosure would result in serious harm to his or her health. Also, you must be available and diligent with regard to patients. For example, you can only terminate pharmacy services provided to a patient for good and reasonable cause, such as:
- Loss of patient trust;
- Lack of patient cooperation;
- A conflict of interest or an impairment of your professional independence;
- Incitement on the part of the patient to perform illegal, unjust or fraudulent acts;
- Abusive behavior of the patient (threats or aggressive acts).
If you stop providing pharmacy services for any of these reasons, you must first inform your patient and ensure the continuity of these services.
Duty of independence and disinterestedness
When you wear your pharmacist’s hat, your patient’s interest must take precedence over yours, in the name of your professional independence (Article 44, Code). You must therefore act objectively and selflessly at all times. Consequently, it is essential to avoid any situation in which you would be in a conflict of interest, especially when such conflicts could affect your loyalty to your patient or your integrity (section 52 of the Code).
Duty of integrity
This duty is common to all professions: in order to maintain public trust, it is essential that professionals demonstrate honesty and transparency. This is why you must, as soon as you become aware of it, inform your patient of any error that may have occurred in the provision of your services, and minimize the consequences of this error on the patient’s health. The duty of integrity also implies certain obligations with respect to the medicines you offer: you cannot sell an expired medicine or a sample and must destroy any unused medicine that is returned to you.
Duty of confidentiality
As a pharmacist, you are bound by professional secrecy; You must refrain from revealing any confidential information obtained in the course of pharmacy. This means that as a pharmacist, you must, in order to preserve professional secrecy:
- Avoid revealing that someone has used your services;
- Avoid eavesdropping conversations about a patient and the pharmacy services provided to them;
- Respect your patient’s need for confidentiality before providing your pharmacy advice and services;
- Do your best to ensure that solicitor-client privilege is maintained by your employees and the staff who work with you.
Professional secrecy can be breached when the law orders it or with your patient’s permission. In addition, it can be broken in order to prevent an act of violence, such as suicide, or in the event of imminent danger of death or serious injury to an identifiable person or group of persons. If you provide confidential information in this case, you must indicate in the patient’s record the following, among other things:
- The date and time of the communication, and the events that gave rise to it;
- The identity of the person(s) exposed to the danger, the person who made the threat, and the identity of the person(s) to whom the communication was made;
- The nature and circumstances of the threat;
- The information provided.
Duties and Obligations to the Profession
Derogatory acts
As a pharmacist, you represent the image of the profession in the eyes of the public. You must therefore refrain from committing acts that derogate from the dignity of the profession that could devalue the profession. Derogatory acts are provided for in the Professional Code and the Code of Ethics of Pharmacists and include, in particular (Article 77, Code):
- Committing negligence in the practice of the profession;
- Perform an act that is not required or disproportionate to the patient’s needs or multiply your professional acts without sufficient reason;
- Urging or repeatedly to seek your pharmacy services;
In addition, in order to maintain a relationship of mutual trust with your patients, you must refrain, for the duration of the professional relationship that is established with the person to whom you provide services, from abusing that relationship to have sexual relations with that person, from engaging in abusive acts of a sexual nature or from making abusive comments of a sexual nature. which also constitutes an act derogating from the dignity of the profession.
advertising
Pharmaceutical advertising is highly regulated by the Code of Ethics for Pharmacists. In particular, you must refrain from making or allowing to be made on your behalf any false, misleading or misleading advertising.
Professional Reports
Finally, in your professional dealings with the Order of Pharmacists, your colleagues, students, trainees or any other professional, you must behave with dignity, courtesy, respect and integrity.
Sanctions
If you are found guilty of the offences of which you are accused, the Disciplinary Council will impose one or more of the following sanctions on you:
- A reprimand;
- Temporary or permanent removal from the roll of the Order, even if you have ceased to be registered since the date of the offence;
- A fine;
- The obligation to give to any person to whom it is due an amount of money that you hold or should hold for them;
- The obligation to disclose a document or any information contained therein, and the obligation to complete, delete, update or correct such document or information;
- Revocation of your licence to practise;
- A limitation or suspension of your right to engage in professional activities.
A disciplinary lawsuit can lead to stress, inconvenience, and a lot of questions for a pharmacist. We are not unaware of the repercussions that this can have on your personal and professional life. If you are faced with a disciplinary complaint, do not let the situation escalate. Contact us as soon as possible and benefit from an effective defense adapted to your situation in order to protect your rights and your career.