Pharmacy Daily | QUM ethical concerns

THE Australian Pharmacy Liaison Forum (APLF) said in its most recent communiqué that it discussed concerns regarding pharmacists working under conditions where the Code of Ethics relevant to them was compromised “specifically regarding promotions run by some marketing groups; and that price promotion may trivialise risks associated with some medicines and act against pharmacists’ image and status as ‘Health Advisors’“. APLF chair John Low said there had been a perceived trend regarding the influence of business drivers on professional practice ranging from setting of MedsChecks quotas to promotional distribution of non-prescription medicines. The APLF discussed pressures placed on pharmacists to meet business demands that might bring their professionalism into question. “The APLF agreed that there is a need to remind pharmacists that the responsibility for professional and ethical behaviour rests with the individual and not the marketing group.” Pharmacists who felt their professionalism was thus compromised could seek assistance from the PDL, he said. Pharmaceutical Society of Australia president Grant Kardachi wrote recently in Australian Pharmacist that the practice of banner groups emphasising price promotion was cause for concern for pharmacists, who could find it hard to advise on appropriate use of medicines when consumers could buy the product at a discount price, often without counselling.

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