How Ethical and Professional Are Community Pharmacies in Jordan? A Public Perspective Study

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Working on this study was particularly meaningful because it connects ethical theory with real-world pharmacy practice. It highlights an important reality: pharmacists are often committed to doing the right thing, yet system-level constraints—such as workload, infrastructure limitations, and commercial pressures—can hinder the consistent delivery of optimal patient-centered care. What stood out most is the gap between how patients perceive pharmacists as trustworthy professionals and the actual depth of clinical communication they receive. This reinforces the idea that ethics in healthcare is not only about intention, but about how consistently it is translated into daily practice. The observed pattern—strong fairness and professionalism alongside weaker privacy and safety counseling—reflects a deeper tension between operational realities and ethical responsibility. From a broader perspective, these findings resonate with the higher objectives of Islamic ethical thought, which emphasize the preservation of life, intellect, and human dignity. In this context, healthcare practice is not merely a professional duty but also a moral responsibility. The pharmacist’s role therefore extends beyond technical dispensing toward safeguarding patients through beneficence, confidentiality, and just service. When counseling is limited or transparency is compromised, this represents not only a clinical gap but also a deficit in relational ethical competence. Additionally, informal practices reported by some participants—such as dispensing near-expiry medicines without adequate disclosure, favoring certain products due to commercial incentives, or extending into unsupervised prescribing—highlight the complex intersection between commercial pressures and ethical care. These behaviors, even if not systematically measured, raise important concerns about patient safety, trust, and professional accountability. Ultimately, this work reinforces that ethical pharmacy practice is not achieved through regulatory compliance alone, but through a continuous alignment between professional actions, patient needs, and moral responsibility. I hope this study contributes to advancing a more structured, transparent, and patient-centered model of pharmacy care, and encourages further dialogue on how to better support pharmacists in fulfilling both their clinical and ethical roles.

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