Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs

Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs

            Advanced nurses and other medical practitioners are responsible for providing quality care to patients. However, these practitioners should adhere to legal, professional, and ethical guidelines while performing their duties. In this case, the practitioner should comply with the ethical and legal standards as set by the state of Georgia while prescribing medicine to the patient. This paper will address the ethical and legal issues associated with the selected case study, measures for dealing with both disclosure and nondisclosure, strategies for influencing the practitioner’s decision, and the procedure of prescribing medications.

The Ethical and Legal Issues associated with the Selected Case

Both ethical guidelines and legal policies are applicable in the selected scenario. In this case, the medical practitioner has been authorized by a fried to prescribe medication for her. However, the client does not provide the practitioner with her medical history, which should act as a guide during the prescription. The state’s legal and ethical guidelines are against such actions since they are likely to expose patients to harm.

Georgia’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) was enforced to govern the prescription of drugs primarily to reduce cases of drug abuse, thus enhancing the safety of the citizens. The newly enacted PDMP requires the pharmacist to record their prescriptions within 24 hours. This deadline was reduced from a period between 7 and 10 days (Rodriguez, 2017). This move will prevent individuals from purchasing the same drug from multiple pharmacies. The new law also emphasizes accountability. Physicians are required to check the system before prescribing drugs to the patients (Rodriguez, 2017). Thus, prescribing medication without a patient’s medical history would imply that the prescriber has acted against this policy. Furthermore, the action would compromise the patient’s physical and emotional health due to the ineffectiveness of the prescribed medication. According to Harrison et al (2016), the patient’s well-being is significantly affected by clinical errors. Additionally, the action would compromise the well-being of the patient’s family since the health status of their loved one will expose them to psychological torture.

The Georgia State Board of Pharmacy also requires the medical practitioner to adhere to the set ethical standards while prescribing drugs to the patients. Particularly, the board requires pharmacists to review the patient’s records before prescribing any medication (Pozgar, 2015). Additionally, the dispensing pharmacist is required to discuss with the client all issues pertaining to the drug such as possible side effects or any potential allergic reactions (Pozgar, 2015). Therefore, prescribing medication to the friend without her medical history would imply that both the prescriber and pharmacist have acted against this ethical standard. Also, the action would have a negative impact on the patient since the administered medication is likely to have some allergic reactions, thus deteriorating her health status further. The patient’s family will also be affected psychologically by the deteriorating health status of their loved one.

Approaches for Handling both Disclosure and Non-Disclosure

Healthcare practitioners should handle both disclosure and non-disclosure in the most effective manner to enhance the level of patient safety (Sorrell, 2017). In this scenario, mistakes are likely to arise if the practitioner prescribes drugs without reviewing the patient’s medical history. First, the prescriber can correct the error by informing the patient about it and possible harm. For instance, the ethical standards of conduct set by the State of Georgia require the prescriber or pharmacist to inform the client about various issues associated with the administered drug (Rodriguez, 2017). Thus, an error regarding drug allergic reaction or potential side effects can be corrected by informing the client about it. Disclosing about the error will, in turn, enhance the level of patient’s safety (Moffatt-Bruce et al., 2016). D On the other hand, the prescriber can address a non-disclosure by correcting the error without informing the patient about it. Taking this action will protect patient’s loyalty and trust towards the practitioner. For instance, the ethical standards of conduct set by the State of Georgia require the prescriber to review the patient’s records before prescribing any medication (Pozgar, 2015). Thus, any error in the prescription can be corrected by reviewing the health records of the client before administering any medication.

Strategies influencing Decision

As an advanced pract