Close-Up on Complaints explores incidents reported to the College that have occurred in the provision of patient care and which present learning opportunities. Ideally, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians will be able to identify areas of potential concern within their own practice, and plan and implement measures to help avoid similar incidents from occurring in the future. Summary of the Incident A nine-year-old patient had to be taken to a hospital’s emergency department after experiencing an…
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of Pharmacy Connection. Ethical issues and dilemmas are a reality of everyday practice. The ability to make sound ethical decisions is a fundamental responsibility of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians as healthcare professionals. Designed to enhance objectivity and consistency, the Framework for Ethical Decision-Making provides a systematic thought-provoking process to guide decision-making and document decisions made in practice that support our commitment to serve and protect our…
Larry Sheng, BSc, PharmD Student 1Carolyn Kasprzak, RPh, PharmD, BCGP 2Edmond Chiu, RPh, BSc, PharmD 2Adrian Boucher, RPh, BSc, PharmD 2Certina Ho, RPh, BScPhm, MISt, MEd, PhD 2,31 School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo2 Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada3 Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto INTRODUCTION An aging population and increasing medication use imply that pharmacies and patients may be at risk of experiencing errors that involve missed medication doses. Missed medication…
Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) remains an important topic in the role of pharmacy professionals in any practice environment and is becoming increasingly so for those in community practice settings. Pharmacy Connection welcomes contributors from the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program team at the Sinai Health System and University Health Network in Toronto to share their insights and perspectives. This is the third in a series of articles about the role of community pharmacy professionals in AMS which reinforces…
In this four-part series, the College focuses on each domain of the community pharmacist practice assessment, highlighting trends that are being seen in practice. Part Three focuses on documentation. Review: Part One (Patient Assessments) in the Spring 2018 edition and Part Two (Decision Making) in the Summer 2018 edition. Standard of Practice Documentation is a fundamental cornerstone of a pharmacy professional’s responsibilities and is a standard of practice. Appropriate documentation has four important characteristics: it…
Decisions of the Discipline Committee between July and September 2018. Shady Mawad (OCP #218593) At a hearing on July 24, 2018, a Panel of the Discipline Committee made findings of professional misconduct against Mr. Mawad with respect to the following incidents: READ MORE He failed to report to the College within a reasonable time that he had been charged with a criminal offence (having care and control of a motor vehicle while “over 80”, contrary…
CASE SUMMARY A 48-year-old male who was being treated for end stage renal disease died as a result of sepsis, subsequent to pancylopenia caused by Methotrexate (MTX) prescribed for treatment of sarcoidosis. Contributing causes of death were determined to be E. coli septicemia due to bone marrow hypoplasia due to MTX toxicity due to end stage renal disease due to polycystic kidney disease. The patient was admitted to hospital with neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. The following…
Samantha Li,RPh, BSc, MSc, PharmD1Larry Sheng,BSc, PharmD Student2Certina Ho,RPh, BScPhm, MISt, MEd, PhD1,2,31Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto2School of Pharmacy, University of Waterloo3Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada As patient cases become more complex, it is inevitable that more healthcare professionals will be involved in their circle of care (1). These healthcare professionals may include family physicians, specialists, nurses, and pharmacists. As such, it is crucial that all healthcare providers in the circle…
By Ian Stewart R.Ph, B.Sc.Phm. Don’t ignore computerized drug utilization warnings due to the large number of clinically insignificant warnings provided. Alert fatigue can result in therapeutic duplication. Pharmacists must be aware of the potential for therapeutic duplication when assessing the appropriateness of drug therapy. The risk of therapeutic duplication increases as the population ages and when patients are seeing multiple healthcare providers and who subsequently may have their prescriptions filled at more than one…
Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) remains an important topic in the role of pharmacy professionals in any practice environment and is becoming increasingly so for those in community practice settings. Pharmacy Connection welcomes contributors from the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program team at the Sinai Health System and University Health Network in Toronto to share their insights and perspectives. This is the second in their series of articles about the role of community pharmacy professionals in AMS which reinforces…
