VATICAN CITY, OCT 29, 2007 (VIS) - "The new frontiers of pharmaceutical activity" is the theme of the 25th international congress of Catholic pharmacists, currently being held in Rome. The participants in the meeting were received today by Benedict XVI.
In his brief remarks to them the Pope first considered current developments in drugs and medicine and the therapeutic possibilities they offer, reminding the pharmacists of the need "to reflect upon the ever broader functions they are called to undertake, especially as intermediaries between doctor and patient," and upon their role in educating patients "in the correct use of medications" and in informing them of "the ethical implications of the use of particular drugs."
"In this context," he went on, "we cannot anaesthetize consciences as regards, for example, the effect of certain molecules that have the goal of preventing the implantation of the embryo or shortening a person's life. Pharmacists must seek to raise people's awareness so that all human beings are protected from conception to natural death, and so that medicines truly play a therapeutic role."
"Moreover, no individual may be used ... as an object to undertake therapeutic experiments." Such experiments "must be carried out following protocols that respect fundamental ethical norms."
The Pope emphasized how "all attempts at cure or experimentation must be undertaken while bearing in mind the wellbeing of the person concerned, and not only the pursuit of scientific progress." Furthermore, "the quest for the good of humanity cannot proceed at the expense of the wellbeing of the people being treated."
In the moral sphere, the federation of pharmacists "is called to face the question of conscientious objection, which is a right that must be recognized for people exercising this profession, so as to enable them not to collaborate directly or indirectly in supplying products that have clearly immoral purposes such as, for example, abortion or euthanasia."
It is also important, the Pope proceeded, that pharmaceutical organizations practice "solidarity in the therapeutic field so as to enable people of all social classes and all countries, especially the poorest, to have access to vital medicines and assistance."
"The biomedical sciences are at the service of man," the Pope concluded. "Were it otherwise they would be cold and inhuman. All scientific knowledge in the field of healthcare ... is at the service of sick human beings, considered in their entirety, who must have an active role in their cure and whose autonomy must be respected."
AC/MEDICINE:MORALS/CATHOLIC PHARMACISTS VIS 20071029 (420)
In his brief remarks to them the Pope first considered current developments in drugs and medicine and the therapeutic possibilities they offer, reminding the pharmacists of the need "to reflect upon the ever broader functions they are called to undertake, especially as intermediaries between doctor and patient," and upon their role in educating patients "in the correct use of medications" and in informing them of "the ethical implications of the use of particular drugs."
"In this context," he went on, "we cannot anaesthetize consciences as regards, for example, the effect of certain molecules that have the goal of preventing the implantation of the embryo or shortening a person's life. Pharmacists must seek to raise people's awareness so that all human beings are protected from conception to natural death, and so that medicines truly play a therapeutic role."
"Moreover, no individual may be used ... as an object to undertake therapeutic experiments." Such experiments "must be carried out following protocols that respect fundamental ethical norms."
The Pope emphasized how "all attempts at cure or experimentation must be undertaken while bearing in mind the wellbeing of the person concerned, and not only the pursuit of scientific progress." Furthermore, "the quest for the good of humanity cannot proceed at the expense of the wellbeing of the people being treated."
In the moral sphere, the federation of pharmacists "is called to face the question of conscientious objection, which is a right that must be recognized for people exercising this profession, so as to enable them not to collaborate directly or indirectly in supplying products that have clearly immoral purposes such as, for example, abortion or euthanasia."
It is also important, the Pope proceeded, that pharmaceutical organizations practice "solidarity in the therapeutic field so as to enable people of all social classes and all countries, especially the poorest, to have access to vital medicines and assistance."
"The biomedical sciences are at the service of man," the Pope concluded. "Were it otherwise they would be cold and inhuman. All scientific knowledge in the field of healthcare ... is at the service of sick human beings, considered in their entirety, who must have an active role in their cure and whose autonomy must be respected."
AC/MEDICINE:MORALS/CATHOLIC PHARMACISTS VIS 20071029 (420)
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