Blogfinger

Leadership Viewpoint » Physician-led care is best prescription for health of nation

Allowing pharmacists to diagnose conditions and prescribe medications far exceeds their training and jeopardizes patient health.

From the AMA President:

The legislation, the Ensuring Community Access to Pharmacist Services Act (H.R. 3164) and a companion bill in the Senate (S. 2426), would allow pharmacists to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients for a range of illnesses including influenza, strep and “public health emergencies,” among others.

Because the scale of the pharmacist legislation now pending in Congress is national, its impact would be even more damaging to outcomes from siloed, delayed and incomplete care resulting from misdiagnoses or underappreciation of the severity of illness. We strongly urge Congress to reject this legislation.

Pharmacists are well-trained as medication experts, and their ability to educate patients on the safe and effective use of pharmaceuticals while watching out for harmful complications and drug interactions saves lives. But only physicians have the necessary education and training to properly examine and diagnosis patients for illness or disease and determine the appropriate course of treatment based on the individual needs of the patient; shifting that responsibility to pharmacists needlessly puts patients at risk.

Blogfinger:     Evidently some NJ doctors have run into situations where pharmacists try to change their orders and, instead, strive to take over the patient’s care.  I doubt that is common.  What is the motivation for a pharmacist to play doctor?   Most would shudder at the thought of accepting the malpractice risk even if the proposed law above were instituted..

During my 30 years as a practicing physician I was never named in a malpractice  suit. That’s because I became a licensed physician  after superior training in a first class medical school and a famous New York  hospital. (Mt Sinai NYC).  I was always careful and thorough according  to the Hippocratic mantra of “first do no harm!”

I passed numerous exams, including orals at major centers and I became board certified in two specialties.

This reminds me of efforts to allow physician assistants and nurse practitioners toe be called “doctor” and conduct their own practices—either in patient or out. That is another misguided idea. Perhaps some of you already have run into such ersatz doctors—I have.

Would you want a pharmacist to take my place in your care?

This proposal is a joke, and  I totally support the AMA in its efforts to oppose this bill and others like it.

Paul Goldfinger, MD FACC

Advice from a pharmacist:

HARRY NILSSON :