Generosity is in our nature, even when we are writing prescriptions for patients, whether necessary or not. Pharmacists are not supposed to sell any medicine without a doctor’s prescription. Our pharmacists, however, will suggest and describe the medicine you need and sell it to you without the doctor’s prescription that guarantees the safety of the patient. They do not know if the patient is allergic to a drug or may suffer from dangerous side affects.
Doctors will prescribe large numbers of drugs hoping that some or any of these will cure the patient without considering the side effects they may have.
I was in America with two of my sons when we ran short of insulin. In Saudi Arabia, insulin is sold without hesitation or prescription. But in America the pharmacist refused to sell the medicine without prescription, even if the patient was dying in front of him.
Since my sons are doctors, they tried to convince them to write the prescription on their own, but the pharmacist continued to refuse selling that medicine without the prescription of a specialist who is authorized to write a prescription on official paper containing the name and address of the doctor.
When we went to the hospital, we were told we would have to schedule an appointment for examination by the doctor so he could prescribe the proper medicine.
In Saudi Arabia, a pharmacist would be embarrassed to refuse writing a prescription for any number of medicines, one for each symptom. Pharmacists need to be more careful: Prescribing medicines like that will put patients’ lives in danger.
Arab News From the Local Press 18 March 2003
