ETHICAL AND LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF PRESCRIBING DRUGS NURS 6521

In the case scenario, a friend calls and requests me to prescribe her medication. Although I have the autonomy, I do not have the friend’s medical history. However, I still write the prescription. This paper explores the ethical and legal implications of this scenario, approaches to address disclosure and nondisclosure, and the procedure of writing prescriptions.

Ethical and Legal Implications Of The Scenario On All Stakeholders Involved

Prescribing or giving medications to family members and friends, except for an emergency is regarded as unprofessional conduct and can call for disciplinary measures. The ethical problem surrounds the fact that the relationship with a friend or relative can cloud a practitioner’s judgment (Sorrell, 2017). Based on the state, the prescriber in this scenario can face legal consequences for prescribing to their friend. Writing a drug prescription for friends in a social setting can prompt legal action. Since the prescriber has the autonomy to prescribe, the ethical and legal consequences would center on what is best for the person prescribed and whether local ethic boards have an outlook on the matter (Sorrell, 2017). The prescribed medication may result in an adverse drug event since no assessment was conducted, which fails to uphold ethical principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence.

The ethical and legal implications of the act would not only fall on the prescriber but also the dispensing pharmacist. Ethical implications for the pharmacists would include the failure to uphold beneficence and nonmaleficence. The pharmacist ought to have reviewed the diagnosis for the patient before dispensing to ensure the medication is appropriate for the patient’s medical condition (Sorrell, 2017). Failing to review the medical information puts the patient at risk of adverse drug effects if the drug is not appropriate for the patient.  Furthermore, the patient may face legal implications for getting a prescription without being assessed and diagnosed by a healthcare provider.

Strategies to Address Disclosure and Nondisclosure As Identified In the Scenario

Disclosure of medical error refers to the communication between a health provider and a client, family member, or a client’s proxy whereby the provider admits that a medical error occurred. North Carolina has a statute that protects reports made by a health provider making an apology for an adverse treatment outcome. The statute on disclosure, states that health providers should offer to implement remedial or corrective treatment interventions, as well as voluntary acts to assist the affected patient (North Carolina Medical Board, 2017). However, the North Carolina statute does not protect any confessions of fault or a provider’s acknowledgment of responsibility. In the case that the medication has an adverse event on the prescriber’s friend or the prescriber realizes they prescribed the wrong medication, the prescribing clinician should inform the patient (Eniola & Gambino, 2019). The clinician should explain how the error occurred and the actions to be taken to correct the error and its effects.

Strategies That You, As an Advanced Practice Nurse, Would Use To Guide Your Decision Making In This Scenario

In this scenario, my decisions would be based on the North Carolina laws and ethical principles. I would reveal the medication error to the patient by explaining how it occurred as stated by the state law to avoid legal action and implications such as having my APN license revoked (Eniola & Gambino, 2019). In addition, I would employ beneficence and nonmaleficence in making decisions to promote ethical practice. Beneficence is the moral duty to promote good, while nonmaleficence is the duty to cause no harm. In this regard, I would take the duty to do good and prevent harm on the patient by informing them of the error and taking prompt interventions to mitigate potential harm from the medication error (Sorrell, 2017). Besides, I would explain to the patient the steps that the provider and the hospital are implementing to prevent errors in the future. This would help maintain the client’s trust in the clinician and the hospital.