One most important issue regarding the future of pharmacy - the separation of prescribing from dispensing of medicine.
I have read that in most jurisdictions (such as the United States), pharmacists are regulated separately from physicians. Specifically, the legislation stipulates that the practice of prescribing must be separate from the practice of dispensing.
However, in the minority of jurisdictions (particularly in Asian such as China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore), doctors are allowed to dispense drugs themselves and the practice of pharmacy is integrated with that of the physician.
The reason for the majority rule is the high risk of a conflict of interest. Otherwise, the physician has a financial self-interest in "diagnosing" as many conditions as possible, and in exaggerating their seriousness, because he or she can then sell more medications to the patient.
Why is then Singapore so slow in adopting the system used by the US for so many years?
2006-09-02
19:14:31
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4 answers
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asked by
Anonymous
in
Other - General Health Care