ArticleBMC medical ethics2021
Improving pharmacy practice in relation to complementary medicines: a qualitative study evaluating the acceptability and feasibility of a new ethical framework in Australia.
Article in BMC medical ethics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- On the "tightrope" of retail: reflections on ethical dilemmas faced by the pharmaceutical professionals in community pharmacies.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Addressing activities related to food supplements in European pharmacists' codes of ethics: textual analysis and proposals for ethical standards.BMC medical ethics · 2026Article
- Exploring Complementary Medicine Usage, Consumer Perceptions, and Impact of Label Warnings: A Cross-Sectional Study in Melbourne, Australia.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Evaluation of an interactive education workshop on hospital pharmacists' ethical reasoning: an observational study.BMC medical ethics · 2024Observational
- "No one went into pharmacy … to sell a lot of Coca-Cola. It's just sort of a necessary evil" - Community pharmacists' perceptions of front-of-store sales and ethical tensions in the retail environment.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- Dietary supplement and complementary and alternative medicine use among older adults in Australia and the United States.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2023Article
- Article
- Development and Validation of a Tool to Improve Community Pharmacists' Surveillance Role in the Safe Dispensing of Herbal Supplements.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is a need for clearer guidance for pharmacists regarding their responsibilities when selling complementary medicines. A recently published ethical framework provides guidance regarding the specific responsibilities that pharmacists need to meet in order to fulfil their professional obligations and make a positive contribution to health outcomes when selling complementary medicines.
objectiveEvaluate the acceptability and feasibility of a new ethical framework for the sale of complementary medicines in community pharmacy.
methodsAustralian community pharmacists were invited to participate in online focus groups and interviews. Participants were recruited via multiple methods, including social media and the professional networks of pharmacy groups. Participants were provided the ethical framework prior to the discussion. Discussions were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis.
resultsSeventeen community pharmacists participated in the study (11 in 4 focus groups and 6 in individual interviews). There was good representation among participants in terms of gender, years of practice, pharmacy location and script volume. Participants differed in how proactive they were in relation to selling and providing advice on complementary medicines, how they interpreted evidence in relation to complementary medicines, and how they navigated their practice within the retail environment of community pharmacy. The majority of participants found the framework was acceptable for practice and was feasible for implementation with targeted support. Participants identified two important areas for targeted support in implementing the framework: improved access to evidence-based information resources on complementary medicines and independent evidence-based education and training on complementary medicine for pharmacists and pharmacy support staff.
conclusionThe ethical framework addresses an important gap in providing specific professional guidance to pharmacists when selling complementary medicines. The results of the study suggest that the framework may be acceptable to community pharmacists and be feasible to implement with targeted support.
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Registered trials
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