Martine Kruijtbosch

90 Chap t e r 3.1 12. Whether you counsel and explain the options to her as per professional guidelines. From the list of questions above, please rank the statements in order of importance: Most Important; Second most important; Third most important; Fourth most important Dilemma No.2 (Morphine scenario) One late Saturday evening a client, well known to the pharmacist, presented at the pharmacy in much distress. Over the last few months she had been collecting her mother’s regular medications for cancer treatment and pain relief. The pharmacist had no doubt the client’s mother was suffering much pain. The client approached the pharmacist imploring for an extra bottle of Morphine Mixture 10mg/mL, as her mother had used up all her repeats and had just run out. The last dispensing of the mixture had been three days earlier. Lately, her mother had needed a lot more morphine than usual for breakthrough pain. The family doctor had left for the weekend. All neighbouring doctors had also left for the weekend and she couldn’t go to the emergency department of the local hospital for this. Should the pharmacist dispense the Morphine Mixture? Yes; Can’t Decide; No How important would each of the following statements be in deciding what to do? Please rate the importance of each of the following by marking with an x: Great; Much; Some; Little; No 1 . Whether you (the pharmacist) are willing to risk legal ramifications for illegal provision of an opioid to a sick patient. 2 . Whether viability of the business by complying with patients’ needs is important. 3 . Whether the laws of the land are in place to actually protect the public. 4. Whether it is a patient’s right to choose to take medication even if you suspect self-harm 5 . Whether there are strict professional regulations to abide by regardless of circumstances. 6 . Whether calling for legal advice is appropriate in this situation. 7 . Whether ideology of bioethics & civil liberties apply to resource dissemination in general. 8 . Whether it is a pharmacist’s responsibility if a patient forgets to see the doctor in time. 9 . Whether pain may be controlled by other measures within legal boundaries. 10. Whether your medical indemnity is up to date and renewed. 11. Whether you should respond to the trust which the patient has afforded you. 12 . Whether the professional and clinical judgment of the pharmacist in this case is relevant.