the pathology of pharmacy ethics

pharmacy, from the earliest time has been closely related to health and well-being of the people and its own code of ethics. in recent decades there has been a shift in the pharmacist role from traditionally dispensing to patient oriented health care management. nowadays, the philosophy of pharmacy practice is that a pharmacist is an individual who provide his knowledge and skills in patient counseling regarding ethical principles. recent advances in the science and technology and emerging new horizons of medical therapy, drug delivery and pharmacy practice put forth new concepts such as professionalism and professional code of ethics for health care providers. in this respect, rights of patient, patient autonomy and consent, consumerism, and commercialism put forth the importance of the study of pharmacy practice pathology and implementation of the code of ethics. these constrain has not put into consideration in iran, it seems necessary to study how effective are code of ethics with these factors as well as others such as lack of knowledge and skills, economical, cultural, and socio-cultural constrains.