A Pharmacy Lecture that a Lawyer could Love

Paul A. Pumpian Lecturer Focuses on the Pharmacist’s Legal Liability

By Jeff Raymond
March 18, 2008

The setting was the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, but the lecture focused on topics that a lawyer, or maybe even a judge, would love. Liability? Statute? Breach?

COMAR?

The person delivering this year’s Paul A. Pumpian Lecture on March 11 was John F. Fader II, who earned a degree in pharmacy in 1963 but also earned a law degree and went on to become a lawyer and a judge. He now teaches at both the School of Pharmacy and the School of Law at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. His lecture, “Night and Day-The Pharmacist’s Increasing Legal Responsibility for Cognitive Errors,” emphasized the current cultural climate: more people are taking more medications than ever; pharmacists face a staffing shortage in their industry; and the media highlights those times when pharmacists do make errors.

“Because of who you are,” Fader told the pharmacy students and faculty in the audience, referencing their advanced education and skills, “you have more responsibility to your patients and you also have more liability.” “Night and Day” refers to the difference between the training of pharmacists now and decades earlier, as well as the differences in their legal responsibilities.

COMAR refers to the Code of Maryland Regulations, and Fader tried to impress upon the pharmacy students that it impacts how they practice their profession. For instance, it is the responsibility of a pharmacist to verify the accuracy of the prescription if he or she believes it may have been written in error. If the pharmacist suspects an error, Fader warned, he or she must investigate.

Trends in the health field are bringing pharmacists more directly into the realm of patient care. That “absolutely” increases the liability on pharmacists, Fader said. That additional liability, he added, will likely be covered by malpractice liability insurance.

For all the challenges posed by the legal system, Fader concluded, the student pharmacists should not be daunted. They are brilliant, well-trained individuals who should be proud of the recognition of pharmacists’ expanding role in the medical delivery system.

“You’re great; you can do it,” he said. “But you need to know where there are a few bumps in the road.”