Ethics Education for Contemporary Clinical Pharmacy Practice in Nigeria: Shortfalls and Needs

The past decade has witnessed a shift in the ambitions of pharmacists away from the core role of dispensing medicines towards more interesting and rewarding relationships and responsibilities with other healthcare providers and patients. The patient-centred role of pharmacists has allowed ethical issues experienced in medical practice to surface in pharmacy practice, resulting in an increase in the number and variety of ethical dilemmas that pharmacists face in their routine pharmacy practice. Pharmacy education prepares pharmacy students for practice and must be in tune with the professional dynamics. Many countries that provide patient-centered pharmacy services have redesigned pharmacy ethics education while others are in various stages of revision of their curriculum in order to adequately equip future pharmacists with the rudiments required to handle ethical issues in clinical pharmacy practice. In contrast, in Nigeria, little or no pharmacy ethics is taught to pharmacy students and the challenge lies with the curriculum design and method of teaching.

Case Studies in Pharmacy Ethics

The third edition of Case Studies in Pharmacy Ethics presents a comprehensive series of cases faced by pharmacists that raise ethical issues, with chapters arranged in a manner that simultaneously presents the topics that would be covered in a course on ethical theory. After an introduction, the book is divided into three parts. The introduction takes up four basic issues in ethical theory: the source, meaning, and justification of ethical claims; the two major ways of determining if acts are morally right; how moral rules apply to specific situations; and what ought to be done in specific cases. Part I deals with conceptual issues. Chapter 1 presents a five-step model the pharmacist can use for ethical problem solving. Chapter 2 addresses identification of value judgments in pharmacy and separation of ethical from nonethical value judgments. Chapter 3 looks at where the pharmacist should turn to find the source of ethical judgments. Part II presents cases organized around the major principles of ethics: beneficence and nonmaleficence, justice and the allocation of resources, autonomy, veracity (dealing honestly with patients), fidelity (including confidentiality), and avoidance of killing. Part III presents cases organized around topics that present ethical controversy: abortion, sterilization, and contraception; genetics and birth technologies; and mental health and behavior control. The remaining chapters cover drug formularies and drug distribution systems; health insurance, health system planning, and rationing; pharmaceutical research; consent to drug therapies; and terminally ill patients. The book includes links to professional codes of ethics and a glossary.