hey daisy,
according to tmz propofol in USA is not a controlled substance and can be shipped to a legit doctor, medical practice without constraints. TMZ said that pharmacy shipping stuff was legal.
ps: now they are changing the rules and it is in the controlled substances list - now pharmacies have the responsibility that you said. Before MJ's case they did not.
Hey,
Do you have a link to this TMZ report please?
In the UK WHATEVER DRUG a pharmacist supplies to a patient or a doctor, whether it is a controlled drug or not, has to be legally, ethically and clinically assessed.
Obviously, for a controlled drug the risk is heightened and special legal records need to be kept, but for non-controlled drugs, which would include propofol, ethical and clinical checks need to be made.
I CANNOT see how supplying propofol, which the pharmacist should either know or find out is a general anaesthetic and is used only in hospitals, can be justified to a doctor or a patient in the community. The pharmacist should professionally decide the risks, and question the purpose of the supply. The patient's safety is number one priority, for pharmacists as well as doctors. If the pharmacist thinks the patient could be at risk by supplying then he/she will not supply. They are well trained professionals and experts on drugs and thus are liable too.
But perhaps the pharmacist did make enquiries and decided from what they were told, that it was going to be used in a legit clinic/hospital by suitably trained doctor, ie an anaesthesilogist, and the appropriate monitoring and resus. equipment was to hand. Could be?