668 
The  Ethics  of  Prescribing. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
1   September,  1920. 
an  ounce  of  solution  of  arsenic  and  take  five  drops  in  water  thrice 
a  day."  "Your  child  needs  belladonna,  and  I'll  give  you  a  pre- 
scription for  the  tincture."  "I  think  veronal  would  set  you  to  sleep; 
you  had  better  get  a  bottle  of  tablets  and  take  one  or  two  at  bed- 
time." "Have  you  tried  the  syrup  of  codeine?  Get  some  out  of 
the  chemists,  and  take  a  teaspoonful  now  and  again."  "Get  a 
drachm  of  boric  acid  crystals  and  shake  them  up  in  a  pint  of  water." 
These  orders  are  culled  from  notes  in  our  possession  which  might  be 
entitled  "The  Big  Blunders  Some  Doctors  Make."  It  is  most 
unethical  to  order  drugs  in  this  way.  Moreover,  it  is  often  extremely 
dangerous.  It  may  happen  that  the  chemist  is  too  careful  to  sup- 
ply dangerous  drugs  when  ordered  in  such  a  slipshod  fashion,  but 
too  often  he  is  tempted  to  supply  what  is  asked  lest  he  lose  his  cus- 
tomer's patronage.  It  is  a  golden  rule,  which  should  be  strictly 
adhered  to  in  every  case,  never  to  order  any  drug  save  by  means 
of  a  properly  worded  prescription. 
In  prescribing  dangerous  drugs  such  as  morphine,  arsenic,  veronal, 
and  all  hypnotics,  it  is  very  essential  that  the  words  "not  to  be  re- 
peated" should  be  written  across  the  prescription  in  order  to  pre- 
vent the  patient  from  having  it  dispensed  again  and  again  on  his 
own  initiative.  We  have  known  of  a  case  in  which  a  patient  had  a 
prescription  for  digitalis  which  he  used  himself  and  handed  to  some 
of  his  friends  who  were  supposed  to  be  similarly  affected.  In  writ- 
ing prescriptions  containing  cocaine  special  care  has  to  be  exercised. 
We  find  that  there  are  still  one  or  two  medical  men  who  are  ignorant 
of  the  legal  requirements  in  such  cases.  The  prescription  must  con- 
tain the  full  name  and  address  of  the  person  for  whom  the  drug  is 
ordered,  must  be  dated,  and  signed  by  the  full  name,  qualifications, 
and  address  of  the  physician.  It  must  also  bear  the  words  "not  to 
be  repeated."  Failure  to  comply  with  these  requirements  entails 
a  penalty,  which  has  been  inflicted  already  on  more  than  one  un- 
suspecting practitioner. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  a  "slovenly  prescription."  This  is  a 
term  which  we  find  very  applicable  to  the  carelessly  written  and 
often  very  illegible  prescriptions  of  doctors  with  large  practices. 
This  remark  applies  specially  to  those  engaged  in  health  insurance 
work.  The  use  of  "drapery  bill"  prescription  forms  ordered  b}' 
the  Commissioners  has  intensified  this  evil.  We  have  seen  pre- 
scriptions of  the  type  referred  to,  and  we  think  that  they  reflect 
little  credit  on  the  doctors  who  wrote  them.    Of  course,  we  cannot 
