Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 31

Discussion - Essay Example This implied significant impacts on the practice as the board has regulatory powers (Minnesota, n.d.). This decision was therefore expected to influence prescription and filling as long as it did not conflict any other state or federal written law. At the centre of the debate, however, is the conscience legislation that accommodates religious beliefs in professions and that has been used to support pharmacists’ refusal to prescribe or fill drugs whose application is against their religious beliefs. This has further led legislative attempts to force pharmacists to prescribe and fill drugs at patients’ request. Pharmacists however still employ personnel who observe the conscience clause’s provisions together with their religious beliefs and the courts have not been active in resolving cases of refusal to prescribe or fill drugs (Bergquist, 2006). The subject therefore seems to be more actively regulated by the conscience clause and pharmacists’ ethical regard while regulatory agencies’ directives remain unenforced. Public health, in Minnesota and other states, is however a universal subject that should not be subject to sub societal beliefs. Relevant healthcare agencies in Minnesota should therefore formulate laws that obligate pharmacists to prescribe and fill drugs that promote public health