In recent years, community pharmacies have played a prominent role both in the context of primary health care, especially in the rational use of medicines, and in the global economic landscape. In this context, pharmacists are increasingly subject to commercial, institutional, and social pressures that can compromise their ethical decisions. However, this issue has been addressed in a limited way in the scientific literature. Thus, the objective of this pilot study was to identify ethical dilemmas experienced by pharmacists working in Brazilian community pharmacies to improve the methodological procedures of the future multicenter study. Thus, based on COREQ, a qualitative study with six semi-structured interviews conducted with pharmacists from large-chain community pharmacies in the state of Sergipe was carried out. This study was approved by Research Ethics Committee. Content analysis identified five preliminary categories related to ethical dilemmas in community pharmacy practice, including conflicts with patients, interference from other professionals, commercial pressures and regulatory constraints, Insufficient ethical training, and limitations of professional autonomy. As a pilot study, the findings provide preliminary insights into ethical dilemmas experienced in large-chain community pharmacies and support the feasibility and methodological refinement of a future multicenter qualitative investigation.
Fonseca et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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