Pharmacy: Career Advice

[Muhammad]

:salamext:

I know someone considering going into Pharmacy but they are faced with a problem, which is to do with the selling of impermissible products as a Pharmacist. I thought this might be useful to raise for all people considering the same.

http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/2216/

http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/10101/

Has anyone else researched this and if so, I'd be interested to hear what advice they can offer.

Jazakumullaahu khayran,
:w:

[Yanal]

:sl:
Brother whats the problem? I can help my fathers first business was being a Pharmicist.

[Muhammad]

Wa Alaykum Assalaam,

The problem is having to sell Haram products as a Pharmacist.

[جوري]

Salaam Muhammad
what do you consider Haram products?

my sister has her doctorate in Pharmacology and works in a major university hospital making cancer meds..
I am not aware that there are Haram products in medicine or pharmacology but interested in learning what you consider them to be?

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[Karina]

I wonder if you mean things like the Morning-After contraceptive pill?

My apologies if I'm barking up the wrong tree.....:bump1:

[rpwelton]

Perhaps products like gel-coated liquid capsules that are made from gelatin?

If it's about the presence of alcohol, then this is a debatable issue where there is a legitimate difference of opinion, because of either the amount of alcohol or the type of alcohol (ie, not ALL alcohols are intoxicating).

[جوري]

morning after pills are nothing but birth control pills in high dosage. A doctor may decline to prescribe them if they go against his/her ethics and may refer the pt. to another doctor who will.. they are usually given with some supervision. A pharmacist may have no knowledge of why they are being given for.. high dosages or hormones may be given for any number of things, anti-neoplastic meds like methotrexate maybe given to induce abortion cases with a medical purpose.. drugs like Misoprostol is an E1 prostaglandin analogue given for a gastric ulcer may also induce abortion, so technically there is no ONE abortion inducing med, and those are usually given in clinics, for both follow up and counseling!

[Muhammad]

:sl:

Jazakallaahu khayran for your replies - all of you are right. It's about those issues. Here are quotes from the links to expand a little more:

Some of the issues having to do with medicine need to be contemplated; for example, if a medicine contains alcohol and would intoxicate a person if a large amount was drunk (i.e. of the medicine itself), then it is haraam; otherwise it is not haraam. Similarly there are questions surrounding the impurities that form the ingredients of some medicines: is the structure of the impure substance changed in totality when it is mixed with the other ingredients, or does it remain the same? Surely you are not unaware that there are medicines taken from the urine of pregnant women, or blood, or from body parts removed from humans, such as placentas, to which the rulings concerning dead meat apply. The rulings governing all of these things need to be investigated, and consequently the rulings regarding their sale; the matter needs to be studied both from the point of view of Islamic Sharee'ah and of chemical analysis.

Regarding selling contraceptive measures:

We advise you not to sell them if you know that the people who are using them are either women who want to avoid getting pregnant if they commit zinaa (unlawful sexual relationships) or men who want to avoid having children, or men whose wives have got pregnant and they want to put an end to the pregnancy. All of these are haraam. If he has to study pharmacy, then let him study it, then when he wants to sell these things, let him tell the would-be purchasers that this is not permissible; it is not permissible to abort a pregnancy or to prevent pregnancy except in cases of necessity. Let him advise them, then whoever does not accept this advice, the sin will be on them. And if he can find a way to avoid selling these things, that will be better.

[جوري]

I must admit that pharmacology/pharmacy has little to do with sales. A pharmacist isn't a sales person usually the cashier at the front does that, as well a technician inside counts the pills.
Pharmacists generally supervise, use their expertise to suggest drugs to doctors, or point out medications that are in conflict with one another, they also make compounds, as well certain medications need to be handled in a way to expansive for me to point out now, but especially for cancer pts where a pharmacist has to make the preparations for the nurse to administer.. clinical pharmacists are actually on the floors along side doctors working with pts. who have low plasma clearance, are a polypharmacy and need to be managed very carefully etc. really very little to do with selling pills...

Doctors don't usually prescribe 'Alcohol' and even in cases where an ingestion of an alcohol derivative, where general convention was to use ethanol to occupy the alcohol dehydrogenase, Fomepizole and Hemodialysis are now used in its stead.

Doctors usually and ethically only have the pts best interest at heart, ethanol (drinking alcohol) isn't usually a component of medications .. the term alcohol when comes to O.chem in general denotes any compound with -OH in it, which covers many compounds..

and Allah swt knows best

:w:

[Yanal]

:sl:
Maybe move to Pakistian and work there?

[جوري]

By the way Br. Muhammad as an addendum..
how would a pharmacist know if someone is committing Zina or taking BCP's to avoid getting pregnant? BCP's are taken for any number of things including serious medical conditions, women with polycystic ovary disease for instance are usually put on BCP's... Also I am not aware that avoiding getting pregnant is necessarily Haram .. I believe that coitus interruptus was used during the time of the prophet?
a pharmacists would never stand there and asks people of their sexual relations or why they are taking these pills...It is absurd!

The best scholars to speak of medicine in my humble opinion are ones who are studied both in Islamic jurisprudence as well medical science...and I am well aware that there are quite a few of them in the world..

so I'll end with Allah swt knows best

:w:

[Yanal]

:sl:
And yes to assist in sister Skye I would like to add something to that brother Muhammad and that is: If your the person making the medicine why would you know what it's being used for,your just making it. If there's a muslim person in that career ask him/her what happens or if it is allowed to confirm. Allah knows the best.0

[جوري]

People have to know what the medications are used for, that is why the go to school and that is what they study hence the name of the course title.. the problem is the afore mentioned meds. Have more than one usage, most of them medicinal not recreational!

[glo]

What we perceive to be 'alcohol-based' medicine doesn't contain drinking alcohol at all and should be safe for consumption for Muslims?
Does that apply to all alcohol based medicine or just some?

[learningislam]

:salamext:

i would second what sis skye said.

Doctors usually and ethically only have the pts best interest at heart, ethanol (drinking alcohol) isn't usually a component of medications .. the term alcohol when comes to O.chem in general denotes any compound with -OH in it, which covers many compounds..

Maybe move to Pakistian and work there?

What Pakistan has to do with that?

The best scholars to speak of medicine in my humble opinion are ones who are studied both in Islamic jurisprudence as well medical science...and I am well aware that there are quite a few of them in the world..

Exactly, i do agree. Thats why, when Dr.Zakir Naik talks abt something thats related to medicine, its so easy to trust, coz that person is saying something from knowledge, and not assuming.

What we perceive to be 'alcohol-based' medicine doesn't contain drinking alcohol at all and should be safe for consumption for Muslims?
Does that apply to all alcohol based medicine or just some?

Glo, it depends upon the type of alcohol used. Alcohol is basically a general name given to all the members of this group. But every member has its own specific name as well, so all alcohols are not safe for consumption in medicines.
The two alcohols, i.e. ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and methanol ( methyl alcohol) are considered haraam. Apart from that, there are other alcohols, which are safe to use, but generally, due to the name being alcohol, many muslim doubt that its haraam.

Regarding Your second question, it doesnot apply to all alcohol based medicines. The ingredients of the medicines, reveal what type of alcohol has been used.


Peace

[learningislam]

:salamext:

“Alcohol Free” explained

• Many personal care products today are marketed using the claim “alcohol-free”
• This can be an important claim for people who wish to avoid the drying effects alcohol has on the skin
• Important for Muslims seeking Halal products in which alcohol is not permitted
• Several ingredients used in skincare can be confusing to the layman/general public
• Many alcohol-free skincare products would appear to non-scientists to actually contain alcohols, such as PHENOXYETHANOL, CETYL ALCOHOL, BENZYL ALCOHOL
• PHENOXYETHANOL looks and sounds like an alcohol, it is actually a glycol ether, and has different properties to alcohols. It is a thick liquid
• CETYL ALCOHOL is a hard wax like substance obtained from Palm Oil
• BENZYL ALCOHOL is a natural constituent of many essential oils including Jasmine and Ylang Ylang
• These ingredients are actually “ethanol-free”.
• The reason for the apparent confusion is the difference between the terms used by scientists and those used by the general public
• The old term for ethanol was ethyl alcohol – hence the use of the word “alcohol”
• To the layman, beer, wines and spirits, etc. contain alcohol; to the scientist, they contain ethanol
• To the layman, alcohol is a single substance, but scientifically speaking ‘Alcohol’ describes a whole group of substances with differing properties
• Phenoxyethanol, Cetyl Alcohol and Benzyl Alcohol are “alcohol-free” and acceptable as Halal ingredients

Source

Summarising “Alcohol free”

• The layman’s “alcohol” means “ethanol”, and products that are “alcohol-free” are actually “ethanol-free”.
• In cosmetics, ethanol must be listed on the label as “alcohol”, or “alcohol denat” If this is the case, the product is considered Haram
• Other ‘alcohols’ mentioned earlier are not intoxicants and are allowed to be used in Halal products
• When in doubt, always read the ingredient list, it is the law to list all ingredients on cosmetics/pharmaceuticals
• If there are no ingredients, they are hiding something or not complying to Cosmetic Safety Regulations

Source
And Allah swt knows Best.

:wasalamex

[Whatsthepoint]

I thought alcholol is only haraam when used as an intoxicant.

[glo]

:salamext:
Source

Source
And Allah swt knows Best.

:wasalamex

Thank you, learningislam. That's very helpful.

I thought alcholol is only haraam when used as an intoxicant.

So did I - and that would make sense.
But I think sometimes Muslims err on the side of caution. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
I spoke to a muslimah friend at work, and she said she doesn't use perfume, creams and lotions, antibacterial wipes etc if they contain alcohol. (Not sure what kind of 'alcohol' she meant)

[Whatsthepoint]

Thank you, learningislam. That's very helpful.


So did I - and that would make sense.
But I think sometimes Muslims err on the side of caution. Better safe than sorry, I suppose.
I spoke to a muslimah friend at work, and she said she doesn't use perfume, creams and lotions, antibacterial wipes etc if they contain alcohol. (Not sure what kind of 'alcohol' she meant)

If they wan't to be on the safe side they shouldn't eat fruit either. A couple of ripe pears will intoxicate you much more than a perfume or a medicine based on ethanol, the level of intoxication in both cases = negligible.

[rpwelton]

I spoke to a muslimah friend at work, and she said she doesn't use perfume, creams and lotions, antibacterial wipes etc if they contain alcohol. (Not sure what kind of 'alcohol' she meant)

This is what happens when people do not have an understanding of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence). Many of the alcohols contained in creams and lotions and anti-bacterial wipes are OK for us to use. If you ingested them in large quantities, they would actually kill you before intoxicating you.

That, and there is a legitimate difference of opinion on whether or not alcohol is impure as a substance (ie, if you get it on your clothes or put it on your skin, can you still pray in that state).