Misconceptions Of Pharmacy

Deciding on a Role for Pharmacy:
The interface between pharmacy practice and business were not an especially significant issue during much of the twentieth century. The “drugstore” was a business. It was engaged in many activities in addition to dispensing prescriptions. The pharmacist and his or her employees did everything from dispensing prescriptions to selling household wares to making ice-cream sodas.
To be sure, there were some who considered all non-clinical activities to be unprofessional. During the latter part of the twentieth century, greater concerns about the role of business in the practice of pharmacy became evident. It was the likely result of a profession that had become more specialized owing to the complexity of the products and services it provided. Whatever the cause, however, there are many misconceptions about what role, if any, business should play in the profession. Among the most important misconceptions are the following:
• The practice of pharmacy is ethically inconsistent with good business.
• In business, quality of care is secondary to generating profit.
• Business is not a profession guided by the same types of ethical standards of practice that apply to pharmacy.
• A good pharmacist is one who is a “clinical purist.”

The Practices of Pharmacy and Business
One of the more common misconceptions is that the practice of pharmacy is ethically inconsistent with good business. This most likely developed from the observation of very poor