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Is a career in pharmacy, a bad choice for karma?

mwightmwight
edited June 2010 in Buddhism Basics
I want to go back to school for my doctorate in pharmacy, as it's a high paid in demand job. However I am having problems with ethics, morals and karma. As a pharmacist I would help addicts feed their addiction and destroy themselves. I would kill numerous people from overdoses, allergic reactions etc. I don't know how this would play out in a karmic sense.

Those that believe in karma, hell realms, rebirth etc what are your opinions on this situation?

Comments

  • JavelinJavelin
    edited June 2010
    I think you're looking about it all wrong. Always look at your own intent and what you are doing, not what other people are going to do -- we have no control over that. If you intend to be a pharmacist to help people get the prescription medications they need to live healthier, non-restricted lives without having that pain, that headache, that anxiety, that high blood pressure, etc.....your intent, and your purpose as a pharmacist, is to help people.

    There will always be a few that will abuse, but that is entirely their choice. They'll get it where they can, distorting intentions of individuals, governments, and so forth. To be a pharmacist is not to be a crack dealer; know what a pharmacist is there for, and your intention of helping people who need the help.

    Ultimately the 'addicts' would be the responsibility of the doctors who continue prescribing them those medications. The pharmacist is just there to do what the doctor, who is supposed to be responsible and looking out for the health of the patient, tells them they can do. Trust that your intent is good, the doctor's intent is good, and it is simply an individual's bad karma that leads them to manipulate each part.

    Always look to yourself; within yourself. We each have limited control over our own lives and less over the lives of others. To that, we must have good intentions for good reasons. Will you be helping more honest people than addicts? I think the answer would be very much so, but it's up to you to decide. At any rate, it wouldn't be on your shoulders that anyone abuses pharmaceuticals.

    Namaste
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited June 2010
    Yeah.
    What Javvy said. :)
  • mwightmwight
    edited June 2010
    I am just worried that people will die as a direct result of me filling their prescriptions. Most patient deaths aren't from their illness it's from doctors prescribing wrong medicines or courses of treatment.

    I'm worried karma doesn't work by intent, but by action. I just don't want to wind up in a hell realm because I was greedy and wanted a high paying job where I killed people for a living.
  • Micsunderland3Micsunderland3
    edited June 2010
    Yeah.
    What federica said. :)
  • JavelinJavelin
    edited June 2010
    People can die as a direct result of a lot of things, but are you the one prescribing the medications? Do you intend for them to die, or wish them ill-will? You're providing a public service, one that is blameless; if any mistakes are made they are at the doctor-patient level and not the pharmacist-customer level.

    People die every day from over-the-counter medications. Is the store responsible, or is it simply that the karma of others is the karma of others? If they make bad decisions for themselves, howsoever they carry out those decisions it does not reflect on you.

    Much worse to be the owner of a bar that allows people to drive home drunk afterward. The position of a pharmacist is blameless, has no ill-intent and has the purpose of providing needed and legal medications to only those who have the OK of a medical professional.

    The fear is misplaced, and too reminiscent of fearing the type of hell that Christians believe in. Even if you did accrue any negative karma in the sale of pharmaceuticals, it would be far outweighed by the positive karma you'd accrue in the sale of pharmaceuticals. :) Understand? The positive outweighs the negative significantly in such a case.

    I hope this helps, because there's really no better way I can think of to explain it.....


    Namaste
  • SherabDorjeSherabDorje
    edited June 2010
    mwight wrote: »
    Most patient deaths aren't from their illness it's from doctors prescribing wrong medicines or courses of treatment.

    This is not correct. Most people die from their illnesses, and as a pharmacist you would be preventing that. Beyond that, many die of old age.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited June 2010
    mwight wrote: »
    I'm worried karma doesn't work by intent, but by action.
    Then herein lies your problem.
    Your misunderstanding of how Karma works. Through volitional, intentional thought word and/or action.
  • MountainsMountains Veteran
    edited June 2010
    As a pharmacist, if you are knowingly feeding someone's addiction, you're breaking the law anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Being a pharmacist is a wonderful way to help people. It's really no different from being a nurse, a doctor, a police officer, or any other profession whose major function is helping others. If it weren't for our pharmacists, hospitals wouldn't function. They're a key part of the team, and I can tell you from personal experience, a good hospital pharmacist is worth his or her weight in gold. They've saved my bacon on a couple of occasions.

    Pharmacy, like anything else, can be turned to other than good purposes if that's what you want to do with it. But if you're starting from a place of good intentions, and go into it with the intention to do good with your training and experience, I can only see it as a good thing. The fact that it's a high demand, well paid profession is all the better for you and your family. This is exactly why I'm about to go to school for anesthesia. The in-demand and highly paid part are just gravy to me. It's the facts of what I'll be doing that drew me to it.

    Mtns
  • JasonJason God Emperor Arrakis Moderator
    edited June 2010
    mwight wrote: »
    I want to go back to school for my doctorate in pharmacy, as it's a high paid in demand job. However I am having problems with ethics, morals and karma. As a pharmacist I would help addicts feed their addiction and destroy themselves. I would kill numerous people from overdoses, allergic reactions etc. I don't know how this would play out in a karmic sense.

    Those that believe in karma, hell realms, rebirth etc what are your opinions on this situation?

    My opinion is that being a pharmacist isn't a wrong form of livelihood in the Buddhist sense because you're providing medicine that's been prescribed by a doctor, not intoxicants or poisons. Moreover, you have no way of knowing if a person is abusing their medication, and that really isn't your responsibility, it's their doctor's.

    In addition, you wouldn't be 'killing' anyone if they happen to die because of their medication, especially if you've warn them about the potential side-effects and the dangers of taking more than has been prescribed. If a person chooses to abuse their medication, that's their kamma, not yours. And if a person happens to have a bad reaction to their medication, that's nobody's fault, it's just an unfortunate and unexpected event.

    As other have already mentioned, kamma (literally "action") is defined by the Buddha as intentional actions of body, speech and mind (AN 6.63). If your intent is to provide people with medicine their doctor has prescribed for them, then there's nothing unethical or immoral about that.
  • JavelinJavelin
    edited June 2010
    Jason: That's a pretty decent summary of what we've been saying. Nice. :)

    We can't worry about selling someone a car that they might use to run people over. If we knew that beforehand, we wouldn't sell it, but our intentions are pure. We act with the right intentions born of right view and compassion for all life.

    Namaste
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited June 2010
    pharmacists can help bad doctors be caught. people who are getting pills off bad prescription often get more than you need just for a disorder.

    If you don't believe pills are moral and that everyone is an 'adict' who is on a pill then I think its a foolish career for you.

    Its an interesting combination of stressful and boring. Flipping 200-300 dollar hamburgers sort of.....
  • GlowGlow Veteran
    edited June 2010
    One of the traditional stories that goes along with the Dhammapada (each verse comes with its own story) is rather relevant here. It's actually the one that goes with the first verse ("All experience is preceded by mind..."):
    A middle-aged devout person, named Cakkhupala, became a monk and was energetically leading a contemplative life. As a result of his strenuous endeavour he realized Arahantship, the final stage of Sainthood, but unfortunately went blind.

    One day as he was pacing up and down the ambulatory he unintentionally killed many insects. Some visiting monks, noticing the blood-stained ambulatory, complained to the Buddha that he had committed the offence of killing. The Buddha explained that the monk had killed them unintentionally and that he was an Arahant.

    The monks then wished to know the cause of his blindness.
    The Buddha related that in a past birth, as a physician, that particular monk had given an ointment to a poor woman to restore her eyesight. She promised that, with her children, she would become his servants if her eyesight was restored. The physician's remedy proved effective, but the woman, not willing to keep her promise, pretended that her eyes were getting worse. The cruel physician, yielding to a wicked thought, retaliated by giving her another ointment which blinded her eyes. In consequence of his past evil action the Arahant became blind.
    Source: The Dhammapada + Stories translated by Narada Thera

    In pharmacy school, you learn about what drugs are contraindicated with each other. Pharmacists should be able to spot any potentially dangerous combination of medicines that a patient presents. Of course, echoing Jeffrey's point, if you have ethical reservations about medications and the pharmaceutical industry to begin with, don't become a pharmacist.
  • DazzleDazzle
    edited June 2010
    Hi mwright,

    Karma is connected to intention and your intention is non-harming and to help others.

    Being a pharmacist isn't 'wrong livlihood'.




    Kind regards,

    Dazzle






    .
  • PietroPumokinPietroPumokin
    edited June 2010
    just make sure to enter into a legitimate pharmaceutical practice and you will live good karma
    pharmacy "enterprises" are known to have bad "reputations" so you definitely need to practice "mindfulness" in picking your work here
    i would recommend keep pursuing what you truly want to pursue and let your "meditation" guide you through this, never forget the vanilla between the pudding and the pudding between the baloney. LOL
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    edited June 2010
    A pharmacist works with the public and scientific evidence supports use of drugs. In my opinion they have the oportunity to be very benevolent if they are cordial, helpful, accurate, etc..
    never forget the vanilla between the pudding and the pudding between the baloney.

    If you don't eat your meat you won't get any pudding! :mad:
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