Am going from here to there to over there in this post. No single topic.
Arvin Hill is back in the saddle posting and networking. Killing the Machine sends to Skookum’s Models of engagement in which is on possible models of active resistance to The Powers That Be.
Arvin’s Two things I enjoyed this week links to Stan Goff’s Open letter to the Dems. And having been now over to Stan Goff”s, via Arvin, I’ll post a link to a different post at Stan’s, Stop-loss and what is to be done, which is on action that can be pursued at the high school level to further cripple recruitment efforts. Appended to that post is a comment by a Peggy that recommends getting students involved. And I’ll be sending this on to a friend of mine who has children in public high school. I don’t know if her children might be interested but they’re socially, politically conscious and this is just the kind of thing I would have been eager to do in high school.
Then there’s Arvin’s Targeting your neighborhood theo-pharmacist which gives a link to and clip from a horrifying story in which a rape victim was unable to get the Morning After pill from 15 different pharmacies. The Wal-Mart pharamacist was polite enough to make the point of calling out for all to hear, “…we don’t kill babies. You’ll have to find someone else to do that for you.”
How does this behavior stack up against the American Pharmacist Association’s Code of Ethics adopted by its membership on October 27, 1994?
PHARMACIST CODE OF ETHICS
Pharmacists are health professionals who assist individuals in making the best use of medications. This Code, prepared and supported by pharmacists, is intended to state publicly the principles that form the fundamental basis of the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists. These principles, based on moral obligations and virtues, are established to guide pharmacists in relationships with patients, health professionals, and society.
I. A pharmacist respects the covenantal relationship between the patient and pharmacist. Considering the patient-pharmacist relationship as a covenant means that a pharmacist has moral obligations in response to the gift of trust received from society. In return for this gift, a pharmacist promises to help individuals achieve optimum benefit from their medications, to be committed to their welfare, and to maintain their trust.
Would you trust a pharmacist who treated any of his clients in such a manner?
II. A pharmacist promotes the good of every patient in a caring, compassionate, and confidential manner. A pharmacist places concern for the well-being of the patient at the center of professional practice. In doing so, a pharmacist considers needs stated by the patient as well as those defined by health science. A pharmacist is dedicated to protecting the dignity of the patient. With a caring attitude and a compassionate spirit, a pharmacist focuses on serving the patient in a private and confidential manner.
Was the dignity of the client protected? Was he caring and compassionate? Did he behave in a private and confidential manner?
III. A pharmacist respects the autonomy and dignity of each patient. A pharmacist promotes the right of self-determination and recognizes individual self-worth by encouraging patients to participate in decisions about their health. A pharmacist communicates with patients in terms that are understandable. In all cases, a pharmacist respects personal and cultural differences among patients.
The pharmacist did, yes, communicate with the patient in terms that were understandable…to everyone in earshot. Did the pharmacist respect personal and cultural differences between he and the client?
IV. A pharmacist acts with honesty and integrity in professional relationships. A pharmacist has a duty to tell the truth and to act with conviction of conscience. A pharmacist avoids discriminatory practices, behavior or work conditions that impair professional judgment, and actions that compromise dedication to the best interests of patients.
This is muddled at best. The pharmacist is to act with conviction of conscience and so those who are Anti-Choice would take this as supportive of their denying service. However they have a duty to avoid discriminatory practices.
V. A pharmacist maintains professional competence. A pharmacist has a duty to maintain knowledge and abilities as new medications, devices, and technologies become available and as health information advances.
VI. A pharmacist respects the values and abilities of colleagues and other health professionals. When appropriate, a pharmacist asks for the consultation of colleagues or other health professionals or refers the patient. A pharmacist acknowledges that colleagues and other health professionals may differ in the beliefs and values they apply to the care of the patient.
This seems to stipulate that a pharmacist, when in disagreement with a practice, should refer the client to a pharmacist who will be able to offer the treatment. Which would mean maintaining record of pharmacists who will honor a particular treatment to which a pharmacist may be opposed.
VII. A pharmacist serves individual, community, and societal needs. The primary obligation of a pharmacist is to individual patients. However, the obligations of a pharmacist may at times extend beyond the individual to the community and society. In these situations, the pharmacist recognizes the responsibilities that accompany these obligations and acts accordingly.
VIII. A pharmacist seeks justice in the distribution of health resources. When health resources are allocated, a pharmacist is fair and equitable, balancing the needs of patients and society.
The pharmacist should be fired, but we know that. We don’t need a formal code of ethics to let us know he is irresponsible. But a code of ethics exists and the pharmacist violates nearly every precept. There were pharmacists who said they did not keep the medication in stock and offered to order it but the medication would have arrived too late to serve its prescribed purpose. Those pharmacists who did not refer the client to another pharmacist who would be able to fill the woman’s prescription was in violation of the code of ethics. And if a pharmacist is supposed to promise to help individuals achieve optimum benefit from their medications, then those pharmacists who offered to order the prescription should have been well aware of the narrow time window during which it would provide benefit and were endangering the individual’s health by offering the pill for use outside the prescribed window.
Well, Arvin has sensible suggestions on what progressives can do, and I’ll be sending that post on to some friends. And to add to his suggestions, if one talks to the neighborhood pharmacist and learns they don’t prescribe the Morning After pill or oral contraceptives, one may think of demanding that they then have an obligation to keep on record pharmacists in the area who would be able to fill the prescription.
Now, shifting gears, I have a mundane question for fellow bloggers regarding action via simple letter writing, and in this case I am talking letter writing to unsympathetic congressional representatives and senators. Is it worthwhile just for sake of stating opinion or should it be regarded as wasted time? I’m wondering how others feel about it. I confess that I eventually quit writing Republicans because of course I always got the canned response on how the government was doing what was best for me. I expected nothing different than their return of, “We know best and we’re taking care of things for you as we see fit. If you buy that, great, we love our robotic model citizens! If you don’t, then we suggest you find a district or state that cares.” But I eventually decided it was a waste of paper.
Me. I confess I get burned out at times. I homeschool and since I spend a lot of time at the computer the past five years I have gone the computer route of action. In a support position, I provide free webhosting for a grass roots indigenous organization that has been involved in several ACLU court battles, and am their volunteer webdesigner and webmanager. I also do volunteer webdesign and webmanagement for an indigenous linguist who is attempting to preserve a language that has been classified as “dead”, which means another grievous loss of culture as a consequence of early assimilation policies, but there are those who still speak it and who are attempting to revive its use. I do volunteer webdesign and webmanagement for an extensive indigenous information/educational site on a particular nation and its history and in association with that am doing also volunteer transcribing and archiving of historical information which is a several years long task. I provide volunteer webdesign and webmanagement for a non-profit that collects goods to redistribute to those in need. I also do some volunteer webwork for a music non-profit concerned with education, and a non-profit involved in humanities. I have felt that I had computer and graphics skills to contribute in these areas, which is why I pursued or took on these projects. I sometimes do research for the organizations on different actions or projects. There are times when there’s a flood of work to keep up with and then times when nothing much is going on.
I sometimes worry about not being more “active” in a street way, but I like to think each of these things has political or social worth.
This past fall and winter I got very burned out. I’m still feeling kind of burned out. It happens. My husband and I have friends who have worked relentlessly and publicly on various causes and have, after some years, burned out.
I often wonder how politicians do it. Keep up with their schedule, the information, the issues, the names, the particulars, the broad strokes, the teaching Sunday school when they’re at home–as some are reported as doing and I wonder how–but I wonder the how of all of it considering what is being juggled and the decisions which should be met with comprehensive knowledge if not responsible understanding.
I wondered a little less watching the Republican senators take the floor, one after another, the past couple of days.
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