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Biomedical subjects

W L Allen

Publications and source records attributed to W L Allen.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1996

Conscientious objection to assisted death: can pharmacy address this in a systematic fashion?

OBJECTIVE: To describe a legal structure for the accommodation of pharmacists' rights of conscience in the dispensing of drugs for pharmaceutically assisted death. BACKGROUND: Pharmacists have indicated that there is disagreement in the profession regarding the appropriateness of a practice known as "pharmaceutically assisted death," in which lethal medications are prescribed for terminally ill patients who want to end their lives. Pharmacists who object to pharmaceutically assisted death may be asserting a conscientious objection that threatens to create a conflict with their employers. In addition, pharmacists who support pharmaceutically assisted death, but whose employers forbid the dispensing of medications for this purpose, may face a similar conflict. Current laws and principles of professional ethics fail to adequately address the resolution of either of these conflicts. DISCUSSION: We propose a system within which the pharmacy profession could accommodate the right to conscientious objection without sacrificing the quality of patient care. At the heart of our proposal is the understanding that employers must respect an employee's right to beliefs that differ from those of the employer and, correspondingly, the understanding that employees must respect the employer's duty to provide products and services to those who seek them from the employer. CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacy associations can adopt policies for conscientious objection and have those policies become law through action of the state legislature or the state board of pharmacy. This approach could lead to the development of a clear policy and procedure for resolving the issue of conscientious objection within the pharmacy community, making it far less likely that institutions outside pharmacy would be required to develop a solution for pharmacy.

Ethics, Pharmacy↗
PubMed1995

Advance directives. Population prevalence and demand in Florida.

The level of knowledge is examined about the prevalence of and potential demand for advance directives--living wills and health-care surrogates--by adult residents of the state of Florida. Questions about advance directives were included in random digit dialing telephone surveys of 1,000 Florida residents 18 years of age and older in November 1994 and April 1995. Surveys were completed by 52% of the November sample and 56% of the April sample. Among those responding 88% had heard of living wills and 25% of health-care surrogates; 25% had completed a living will and 8% had designated a health-care surrogate. Of those with no advance directives 73% said they would complete them if the forms were made readily available in convenient locations. Although a relatively high proportion of Florida residents have advance directives, there are independent age and socioeconomic effects in the likelihood of their completion. Advance directives are desired by many more people, but the current methods of educating and availing persons of the appropriate forms are not adequate to meet the demand.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

Medical malpractice.

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Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1983

The effect of cotrimoxazole on oral contraceptive steroids in women.

Nine women taking long-term oral contraceptive steroids (Trinordiol) were studied during a cycle while taking cotrimoxazole (1 gm twice daily) and the results were compared to the previous control cycle. During the cotrimoxazole cycle, there was a significant increase in the plasma concentration of ethynylestradiol (EE). In plasma samples taken on 4 successive days 10-12 hours after dosing, the plasma EE concentration rose from 29.3 +/- 5.0 pg/ml to 38.2 +/- 5.8 pg/ml (mean +/- S.E. P less than or equal to 0.02). In samples taken 24 hours after dosing, the increase was from 18.9 +/- 2.5 pg/ml to 27.8 +/- 4.0 pg/ml (P less than or equal to 0.05). Plasma F.S.H. values in these latter samples, decreased from 4.8 +/- 0.6 mIu/ml to 3.4 +/- 0.5 mIu/ml (P less than or equal to 0.01). No significant changes were noted in the plasma concentrations of levonorgestrel or progesterone. The rise in plasma concentration of EE during cotrimoxazole therapy is attributed to an inhibition of the metabolism of EE by cotrimoxazole as has been shown with other drugs. Short courses of cotrimoxazole are unlikely to cause any adverse effects on contraceptive control when given to women taking long-term oral contraceptive steroids.

Adult↗