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professional liability insurance
professional liability • Insurance by Arnold Winoku r administrative division director
M
odern trends dictate a practical necessity for professional liability insurance for a pharmacist or student working for others. No longer can the employed pharmacist depend on the old theory that the owner alone is responsible for the acts of his employees or as referred to under old common law, the master and servant theory. All around him the pharmacist sees, hears of and reads in the daily newspapers about lawsuits and claims of every kind including an ever increasing number of malpractice suits in the field of medicine. Some of them come close to home such as a claim or suit against the owner of a pharmacy in which the employed pharmacist actually made the mistake, error or omission. In this type of claim the pharmacist is required to co-operate and even if he is joined as a party defendant in the action, he may barely escape personal expenses for defense or a several or joint judgment against him. New court-set precedents are putting the employed pharmacist in the same class as the owner or a doctor. No matter how much professional skill or how much confidence a pharmacist has in his own ability, there is always in the back of his mind concern over the single error or mistake that through a judgment could wreck his career and possibly wipe out his life's savings. A judgment is good for ten years with a ten-year renewal period. How can this latent fear be removed?
How can the subconscious concern which plagues the pharmacist be stilled ? The AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL AsSOCIATION has been studying every possible program to find one within the reach of every pharmacist and pharmacy student that would protect the pharmacist's reputation and assets from such judgments. Up to now most employed pharmacists have taken refuge in the notion that liability policies carried by their em ployer guard them against some mistake or human error which they, as individuals, might make. They have felt amply protected by these policies from suit or financial damage to themselves as individuals. But this idea is a fallacy. A pharmacist, as a professional man, is charged with having the highest degree of skill and technical knowledge. He is presumed by law to be trained to exercise every care in keeping with his training and professional status. He is, therefore, personally liable for any acts of omission or commission in malpractice. With the individual pharmacist no longer covered under the type and amount of insurance carried by his employer, new problems have arisen. If he has any assets at all-and certainly if those assets exceed those of his employer- he may be joined in a lawsuit or be the target himself of a suit for damages. A student could very well end up with a judgment against
him that would, in effect, be a lien upon him and his future assets during most of his productive years. After considering a number of proposals, APHA selected the program offered by the Casualty Indemnity Exchange of St. Louis as the plan giving the greatest protection to pharmacists and students. For over 50 years this organization has specialized in the professional field of insurance for pharmacists. Its reputation, method of handling claims, policy in form and substance and rates are the best we could find. Your council considered every phase of this new program before unanimously approving it in Detroit. In essence, the Casualty Indemnity Exchange has agreed to write a professional liability policy that takes care of claims or suits involving mistakes, errors, omissions generally grouped as malpractice. Coverage is limited to $100/ 300,000 for employed pharmacists with a premium of $12 for one year or $30 for three years. Students will be covered at a special reduced rate of $10 for one year or $2.5 for three years. )Jo prudent man, much less a professional man, would operate an automobile without adequate liability and property damage insurance, nor would he go without adequate liability insurance to cover against physical accidents by the public in his pharmacy or in his home. Your profession is by far your most valuable asset and should not be left uninsured. APHA offers its members this type of service with its new indemnity insurance plan. For further information or an application, members may write to the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION, 2215 Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20037, or directly to the Casualty Indemnity Exchange, 722 Chestnut Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63101. •
conference on international health education role of the pharmacist T heasinternational a health educator will be examined Tuesday evening, July 13, at a special meeting in conjunction with the VI International Conference on Health and Health Education. The meeting will be in Madrid, Spain. International Pharmaceutical Federation Representati\-e \V'illiam S. Apple, APHA executive director, will be chairing this special session with Pierre Rolland, founder of the French Pharmacists' committee on health and social education. serving as honorary chairman. In inviting Dr. Apple to organize this international program, Dr. L.P. Aujoulat, secretary general of the International Union on Health Education, saidThe Union is indebted to you and your colleagues for taking the initiative in
326
bringing about what is certain to be a significant forward step for both our fields of interest. Collaboration with the profession of pharmacy offers great potential for the furtherance of effective health ed ucation.
Program participants include Professor Dott. Dino Ponte of the University of Torino in Italy, who will discuss the role of FIP's commission TPO (Techniques de la Pharmacie d'Officine) in establishing the pharmacist as a health educator. Jose Albert Herrero of Valencia, Spain will discuss the philosophy of health education by pharmacy and Arnold O. Wilund, director of the Swedish Apotekarsocieteten, will review public education methods employed by pharmacists. The current president of the French Pharmacists Committee on Health Edu-
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
cation, Andre Quevauviller of Paris, will review the first plan proposed to the international conference; this is to be followed by a review of how the public views the pharmacist as a health educator as evidenced by the recent APHA-USPHS national experimental study, "The Pharmacy as a Health Education Center." This concluding presentation will be presented by George B. Griffenhagen, editor of THIS JOURNAL and project director of the U.S. experimental study. All APHA members are invited to attend the VI International Conference of Health Education in Madrid. For conference registration, as well as for Madrid hotel reservation forms and transportation information, write APHA Division of Communications, 2215 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037. •
M
odern trends dictate a practical necessity for professional liability insurance for a pharmacist or student working for others. No longer can the employed pharmacist depend on the old theory that the owner alone is responsible for the acts of his employees or as referred to under old common law, the master and servant theory. All around him the pharmacist sees, hears of and reads in the daily newspapers about lawsuits and claims of every kind including an ever increasing number of malpractice suits in the field of medicine. Some of them come close to home such as a claim or suit against the owner of a pharmacy in which the employed pharmacist actually made the mistake, error or omission. In this type of claim the pharmacist is required to co-operate and even if he is joined as a party defendant in the action, he may barely escape personal expenses for defense or a several or joint judgment against him. New court-set precedents are putting the employed pharmacist in the same class as the owner or a doctor. No matter how much professional skill or how much confidence a pharmacist has in his own ability, there is always in the back of his mind concern over the single error or mistake that through a judgment could wreck his career and possibly wipe out his life's savings. A judgment is good for ten years with a ten-year renewal period. How can this latent fear be removed?
How can the subconscious concern which plagues the pharmacist be stilled ? The AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL AsSOCIATION has been studying every possible program to find one within the reach of every pharmacist and pharmacy student that would protect the pharmacist's reputation and assets from such judgments. Up to now most employed pharmacists have taken refuge in the notion that liability policies carried by their em ployer guard them against some mistake or human error which they, as individuals, might make. They have felt amply protected by these policies from suit or financial damage to themselves as individuals. But this idea is a fallacy. A pharmacist, as a professional man, is charged with having the highest degree of skill and technical knowledge. He is presumed by law to be trained to exercise every care in keeping with his training and professional status. He is, therefore, personally liable for any acts of omission or commission in malpractice. With the individual pharmacist no longer covered under the type and amount of insurance carried by his employer, new problems have arisen. If he has any assets at all-and certainly if those assets exceed those of his employer- he may be joined in a lawsuit or be the target himself of a suit for damages. A student could very well end up with a judgment against
him that would, in effect, be a lien upon him and his future assets during most of his productive years. After considering a number of proposals, APHA selected the program offered by the Casualty Indemnity Exchange of St. Louis as the plan giving the greatest protection to pharmacists and students. For over 50 years this organization has specialized in the professional field of insurance for pharmacists. Its reputation, method of handling claims, policy in form and substance and rates are the best we could find. Your council considered every phase of this new program before unanimously approving it in Detroit. In essence, the Casualty Indemnity Exchange has agreed to write a professional liability policy that takes care of claims or suits involving mistakes, errors, omissions generally grouped as malpractice. Coverage is limited to $100/ 300,000 for employed pharmacists with a premium of $12 for one year or $30 for three years. Students will be covered at a special reduced rate of $10 for one year or $2.5 for three years. )Jo prudent man, much less a professional man, would operate an automobile without adequate liability and property damage insurance, nor would he go without adequate liability insurance to cover against physical accidents by the public in his pharmacy or in his home. Your profession is by far your most valuable asset and should not be left uninsured. APHA offers its members this type of service with its new indemnity insurance plan. For further information or an application, members may write to the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION, 2215 Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C. 20037, or directly to the Casualty Indemnity Exchange, 722 Chestnut Street, St. Louis, Missouri 63101. •
conference on international health education role of the pharmacist T heasinternational a health educator will be examined Tuesday evening, July 13, at a special meeting in conjunction with the VI International Conference on Health and Health Education. The meeting will be in Madrid, Spain. International Pharmaceutical Federation Representati\-e \V'illiam S. Apple, APHA executive director, will be chairing this special session with Pierre Rolland, founder of the French Pharmacists' committee on health and social education. serving as honorary chairman. In inviting Dr. Apple to organize this international program, Dr. L.P. Aujoulat, secretary general of the International Union on Health Education, saidThe Union is indebted to you and your colleagues for taking the initiative in
326
bringing about what is certain to be a significant forward step for both our fields of interest. Collaboration with the profession of pharmacy offers great potential for the furtherance of effective health ed ucation.
Program participants include Professor Dott. Dino Ponte of the University of Torino in Italy, who will discuss the role of FIP's commission TPO (Techniques de la Pharmacie d'Officine) in establishing the pharmacist as a health educator. Jose Albert Herrero of Valencia, Spain will discuss the philosophy of health education by pharmacy and Arnold O. Wilund, director of the Swedish Apotekarsocieteten, will review public education methods employed by pharmacists. The current president of the French Pharmacists Committee on Health Edu-
Journal of the AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
cation, Andre Quevauviller of Paris, will review the first plan proposed to the international conference; this is to be followed by a review of how the public views the pharmacist as a health educator as evidenced by the recent APHA-USPHS national experimental study, "The Pharmacy as a Health Education Center." This concluding presentation will be presented by George B. Griffenhagen, editor of THIS JOURNAL and project director of the U.S. experimental study. All APHA members are invited to attend the VI International Conference of Health Education in Madrid. For conference registration, as well as for Madrid hotel reservation forms and transportation information, write APHA Division of Communications, 2215 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037. •