Pharmacists' Duty to Warn in the Age of Social Media

Healthcare in general and pharmacy in particular, is still finding its way with social media. One of the least developed elements of Health 2.0 remains the legal aspect. A few years ago several of us starting discussing scenarios in which a legally valid pharmacist-patient relationship might be created based exclusively on Web 2.0 mediated interactions. This discussion has been aided, of course, by social media. Also, as part of an interactive panel at Medicine 2.0 a couple years ago we posed this question (attendees’ responses here).

This discussion has recently been formalized as a Commentary published along with Matthew Seamon PharmD, JD and Brent Fox, PharmD, PhD (@Brent_Fox) in the American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. An accompanying podcast has also been produced for it by AJHP. Ideally the article and podcast help promote dialogue and encourage the profession to think proactively on the subject.

@kevinclauson