giving out inhaler for asthma in emergency situation in pharmacy?

To answer as-asked: Technically that was illegal. You dispensed medication without a prescription. Even a licensed pharmacist cannot do that.

Inhaled medications have a very wide safety profile and adverse reactions are exceedingly rare -- but you didn't know anything about her. How do you know the reason she didn't have a script with her is because her doc took her off of that medication because of an adverse reaction and wanted her on a different medication? How do you know she is not allergic to an ingredient in the medication (some people don't do well with propellants and need dry powder inhalers, etc.)? How do you know she doesn't have a newly-diagnosed heart condition and her doc doesn't want her taking ANY beta agonists until after further evaluation?

Treating asthma can get complicated. We often view it as pretty straightforward because most folks never see the progression. The medications matter and all too often asthma is "managed" by just chucking an inhaler at someone and sending them on their way.

Did you do the wrong thing? I wouldn't necessarily say so. If she was in distress, she was in distress and needed medication. Denying her that could have been very bad. But at the same time there is a reason prescription medications come with a prescription. And not for nothing, but one of the reasons people die in the ER from asthma is because they wasted far too much time trying to treat it at home; if she had truly been in status asthmaticus, then just giving her the inhaler instead of sending her to the hospital could have delayed treatment enough to cost her her life. That has happened to FAR too many asthma patients. I've personally fought for hours to save an asthmatic and lost because too much time was wasted before they came in. Sometimes it takes a LOT more than just a short-acting beta agonist to break open a severe attack. The longer you wait, the harder that can be to do.

But what you asked was if it was illegal. Yes it is. If that pharmacist were not so forgiving or if it had been a different medication you could have found yourself needing to find a new profession. That could have cost you pharmacy school.
.
.

You were so wrong. I can't believe the pharmacist said it was ok. You aren't even a pharmacist. You didnt even know if she was supposed to be on that med. Maybe she had an adverse reaction to it but forgot. You're very lucky things turned out the way they did.

You should have called the pharmacist over & let them take care of it. You so overstepped your boundaries that in any other pharmacy you'd have been fired. The pharmacist would decide if it was a situation they could handle or called 911.

I would it's not legal, but not sure. There are laws that protect someone from such things. The good someritian law. If she were to have a allergic reaction to the inhaler could have been a issue.

Emergency Inhalers

2

don't out use inhaler. buy online

if you were in a bartender and a customer was having an asthma attack... and you gave them access to an emergency inhaler.. you would not be held liable... the same with being a pedestrian waiting with another for a city bus, etc.

and the same remains in many jurisdictions with a pharmacist... now legally, she or the family could sue... if it led to complications, but overall, it's not illegal.

but it does enter into a gray area in those jurisdictions which do have legal restrictions on this.. but even then, the nature of the emergency likely would allow for it... regardless of whether additional support (contacting emergency) was offered.

again, in most jurisdictions, it's perfectly legal (or at least, its lacking penalty) for a pharmacist to offer access to an inhaler (or even a nebulizer treatment) in an emergency situation... in the same capacity that a bartender or flight attendant could. (the same way, they could be held liable, if they did have access to one or other aid, and refused to offer support.)

Inhaler is best medicine for asthma.

saving one's life, and bringing some one out of pain is the most right thing,

Technically, no it's not legal without a script, but yes you still did the right thing morally as she could possibly have died without it.

Apparently people have been known to get addicted to these inhalers. Idk whether it's simply habit or chemical related. And some people abuse them to get high.

Idk how bad it is. Could be as like those nasal spray addictions.

But anyways, if that was the case and it was brought to light, then the pharmacist would probably be singing a different tune and be all about the rules, even though your intentions were in the right place.

There are times that we have to do the right thing, even if it is not 'legal'. What you did was listen to your intuition, big heart, and instinct. Not a lot of people will appreciate that. It's good that the parents came and gave you the script and not a legal action against you as some people actually do that. But don't let me scare you. Things can go 50-50 and it so happened that you got the good 50. Let's just say that you did good and take it as it is.