Limiting the Standard of Care and Scope of Practice, note 1

The 10th Circuit upheld a release of liability for medical malpractice signed by a patient who was also a son of the physician. The physician allegedly had prescribed controlled substances (benzodiazepines) for nearly 30 years for his son. In 1995, in return for an additional prescription and $7,500, the son released his father for liability for malpractice that might have occurred during the time before the releases were signed. Greenberg v. Comerica Bank, 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 21056 (10th Cir. August 18, 2000) (unpublished opinion).

Limiting the Standard of Care and Scope of Practice, note 3

In recent years, many states have enacted or considered legislation dealing with pharmacists’ objections to filling prescriptions for birth control pills, emergency contraception or other drugs.  The majority of the laws permit pharmacists to exercise their conscience and not fill a prescription, but other states, including Illinois, New Jersey and Washington require pharmacists to fill the prescriptions.  Guttmacher Institute, State Policies in Brief: Refusing to Provide Health Services (June 1, 2011), at www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_RPHS.pdf.

For further discussion, see Alta Charo, The Celestial Fire of Conscience—Refusing to Deliver Medical Care, 352 New Eng. J. Med. 2471 (2005); Farr A. Curlin, et al., Religion, Conscience, and Controversial Clinical Practices, 356 New Eng. J. Med. 593 (2007); Kent Greenawalt, Refusals of Conscience, What Are They and When Should They Be Accommodates, 9 Ave Maria L. Rev. 47 (2010); Joanna K. Sax, Access to Prescription Drugs: A Normative Economic Approach to Pharmacist Conscience Clause Legislation, 63 Me. L. Rev. 89 (2010); Martha S. Swartz, “Conscience Clauses” or “Unconscionable Clauses”: Personal Beliefs versus Professional Responsiblities, 6 Yale J. Health Pol’y, L. & Ethics 269 (2006); Lynn D. Wardle, Protection of Health-Care Providers' Rights of Conscience in American Law: Present, Past, and Future, 9 Ave Maria L. Rev. 1 (2010).

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