Medical versus fiscal gatekeeping: navigating professional contingencies at the pharmacy counter

J Law Med Ethics. 2014 Winter;42(4):518-34. doi: 10.1111/jlme.12173.

Abstract

This paper theorizes that care provision depends on the set of "contingencies," or organizational and institutional structures, rules, narratives, and routines, surrounding professional work. Drawing on 95 interviews with U.S. pharmacists, I demonstrate how pharmacists prioritize specific contingencies and reveal how ethical decision-making depends on both organizational positioning and locus in inter-professional hierarchies.

MeSH terms

  • Clinical Decision-Making / ethics*
  • Commerce
  • Ethics, Pharmacy*
  • Gatekeeping*
  • Humans
  • Pharmacists*
  • United States