Tutorial+1+Case+2

= Tutorial 1 Case 2 =

//Mr and Mrs Wu are long time customers at your pharmacy. You know them both well, particularly Mr Wu who collects his wife’s pain medication for the treatment of her bone cancer.

At 8pm on a Saturday night, Mr Wu enters the pharmacy and explains that Mrs Wu has run out of her slow release morphine 30mg tablets, but hasn’t got a prescription. He cannot reach the doctor and she is in terrible pain. He requests that you supply him a box of morphine tablets on owing and promises to bring back a script first thing Monday. You check Mrs Wu’s dispensing history which indicates that MS‐Contin® 30mg x 20 (1 twice a day) was dispensed 7 days ago. Mr Wu says that Mrs Wu has run out because her pain is increasing, she has had to take 3 tablets a day some times.//

Ethical Issue
- to supply or not supply risk - supplying could lead to overdose/masking of an underlying problem - illegal? - other patients start requesting -hard to refuse next time benefit - pain relief (increase quality of life) - increase pharmacist popularity

possible decision: refuse supply (but provide alternative pain relief products) refer to hospital or supply -> ring doctor to get prescription

Resources
[|Pharmacist's Obligations]