Pharmaceutical Ethics

Pharmaceutical Ethics is an important text, which aims to provide the ethical guidelines much needed by the pharmaceutical industry. By focusing on many of the central issues such as the ethical aspects of clinical trials, informed consent, physician or patient choice and pharmaceutical advertising, this text will provide very good coverage of an area which perhaps still lacks coherent instruction. * Covers ethical issues involved in the testing and use of pharmaceuticals on human beings * Investigates issues such as whether choice of drug should lie with the physician or the patient * Looks at a wide variety of subjects connected with pharmaceutical ethics. * Focuses specifically on the issues surrounding the pharmaceutical industry, not medicine in general. * Fulfils an important need in the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Despite the pharmaceutical industry's notable contributions to human progress, including the development of miracle drugs for treating cancer, AIDS, and heart disease, there is a growing tension between the industry and the public. Government officials and social critics have questioned whether the multibillion-dollar industry is fulfilling its social responsibilities. This doubt has been fueled by the national debate over drug pricing and affordable healthcare, and internationally by the battles against epidemic diseases, such as AIDS, in the developing world. Debates are raging over how the industry can and should be expected to act. The contributions in this book by leading figures in industry, government, NGOs, the medical community, and academia discuss and propose solutions to the ethical dilemmas of drug industry behavior. They examine such aspects as the role of intellectual property rights and patent protection, the moral and economic requisites of research and clinical trials, drug pricing, and marketing.

Ethical Dimensions of Pharmaceutical Care examines the recent shift in the pharmaceutical field to care provision as the primary definer of what it means to practice pharmacy in the 1990s. In the process, this book encourages readers to reconceptualize their roles as care providers and develop their own solutions to ethical dilemmas encountered in their practices. Realizing that practitioners must ultimately define their own principles and the points at which they are willing to compromise, the authors help readers construct individual philosophical approaches for conducting their services. An analytical and philosophical guidebook, Ethical Dimensions of Pharmaceutical Care delves into the diverse, yet connected, areas of pharmacy education and practice, ethics, and the ethics of care. Synthesizing theory and practice, it probes stimulating areas such as feminism and pharmacy ethics. It opens the doors to a better understanding of the deeper and multiple meanings of covenant, moral compromise, and integrity. Bringing together experts from the ethics of care, pharmaceutical care, and pharmacy ethics, Ethical Dimensions of Pharmaceutical Care analyzes the relationships between these disciplines and their combined impact on pharmacy. Professional standards and norms are examined as well as new methods relevant to the daily practice of pharmacy and its future directions. Practitioners, pharmacy academicians, and pharmacy students will find the book?s discussions of the following topics thought-provoking and instructive: comprehensive pharmaceutical care integrity and the role of the pharmacist philosophical issues encountered in practice ethical conflict and moral compromise the 1994 Code of Ethics for Pharmacists Ethical Dimensions of Pharmaceutical Care recognizes the value that traditional models of moral rules and principles have had in the various health professions. It contends, however, that the modern health care system requires different methods for practicing ethics. Proposing new approaches that acknowledge the complexity of the modern health care system, this book marks out for the pharmacist a course that will continue beyond the confines of the book.

For decades, medical professionals have been betraying the public's trust by accepting various benefits from the pharmaceutical industry. Drug company representatives and doctors alike have promulgated creative rationalizations to portray this behavior positively, as if it really serves the interest of the public. In Hooked: Ethics, the Medical Profession, and the Pharmaceutical Industry, Howard Brody claims that we can neither understand the problem, nor propose helpful solutions until we fully recognize the many levels of activity that connect these two industries. Then, for real improvement to occur, the doctors themselves need to not only change their behavior, but also change how they view the actions of their peers and colleagues. We can pass laws and enact regulations, so that those physicians that do choose to focus on ethics won't be in an environment where they feel as if they are swimming against too strong a current to make meaningful change, but ultimately a profession has to take responsibility for its own integrity.

As one of the most massive and successful business sectors, the pharmaceutical industry is a potent force for good in the community, yet its behaviour is frequently questioned: could it serve society at large better than it has done in the recent past? Its own internal ethics, both in business and science, may need a careful reappraisal, as may the extent to which the law - administrative, civil and criminal - succeeds in guiding (and where neccessary contraining) it. The rules of behavior that may be considered to apply to today's pharmaceutical industry have emerged over a very long period and the process goes on. Even the immensely detailed standards for quality, safety and efficacy laid down in drug law and regulation during the second half of the twentieth century have their limitations as tools for ensuring that the public interest is well served. In particular, national and regional regulatory agencies are heavily dependent on industrial data for their decision-making, their standards and competence vary, and even the existing network of agencies does not cover the entire world. What is more there are many areas of law and regulation affecting the industry, concerning for example the pricing of medicines, the conduct of clinical studies, the health protection of workers and concern for the environment. In some fields it is indeed hardly possible to maintain standards through regulation. Professor N.M. Graham Dukes, a physician and lawyer with long term experience in industrial research management, academic study and international drug policy, provides here a powerfully documented analysis into the way this industry thinks, acts, and is viewed, and examines the current trends pointing to change. *Provides a balanced picture of the current role of the pharmaceutical industry in society *Includes indices of conventions, laws, and regulations; as well as judicial and disciplinary cases *This is the only book addressing the legal implications of big pharma activities and ethical standards

'Case Studies in Pharmacy Ethics' explores the range of ethics situations faced by pharmacists in daily practice, from direct patient care to broad systemic issues. Using cases and commentaries, the book provides tools to assist pharmacists in understanding and resolving ethical issues

Every pharmacist constantly makes ethical choices. Sometimes these choices are dramatic, life-and-death decisions, but often they are more subtle, less conspicuous choices that are nonetheless important. Assisted suicide, conscientious refusal, pain management, equitable and efficacious distribution of drug resources within institutions and managed care plans, confidentiality, and alternative and non-traditional therapies are among the issues that are of unique concern to pharmacists. One way of seeing the implications of such issues and the moral choices they pose is to look at the experiences and the choices that have had to be made in situations typically faced by pharmacists. This book is a collection of those situations based on the real experiences of practicing pharmacists. The use of case studies in health care ethics is not new, but in pharmacy it is. This text is an important teaching tool that will help pharmacy students and pharmacists address the increasing number of ethical problems arising in their profession. It is not merely a compilation of cases, but rather is organized for the systematic study of applied ethics. Part I shows how to distinguish ethical problems from other kinds of evaluative judgments and examines the sources of values in pharmacy, posing basic questions about the meaning and justification of ethical claims. Part II explores the basic principles of ethics as they have an impact on pharmacy. Specific cases from clinical settings present in a systematic way the various questions raised by each of the major ethical principles: benefiting the patient; distributing resources justly; respecting autonomy; dealing honestly with patients; keeping promises of confidentiality; and avoiding killing. Part III examines some of the special problems of contemporary pharmacy such as the linkages between pharmaceutical care and professional practice, human experimentation, reproductive issues, genetic technology, death and dying, and mental health.