Tampa Pharmacist Continues Hunger Strike to Protest Pharmacy Quotas

In a recent post I highlighted the hunger strike of Tampa pharmacist Raj Bhat RPH. He started his hunger strike on July 5, 2010 to protest what he believes are dangerously high quotas required of pharmacists working for online pharmacy company Medco. According to Bhat the quotas required online pharmacists to fill upwards 45 prescriptions per hour, a pace he says leads to life threatening prescription errors.

As a pharmacy malpractice attorney, I have often criticized large pharmacy chains for high quotas that put profits over patient safety. Quotas increase profits because the more prescriptions that are filled, the more money the company makes. Quotas can compromise patient safety however, because when the pharmacists work at too fast a pace to meet unreasonably high quotas, they make mistakes like filling the prescription with the wrong medicine or the wrong dose of medicine.

Bhat's hunger strike is more than simply criticizing quotas. It is an active attempt to end the practice by drawing attention to it. As of January 17, 2011 he had been on his hunger strike for 28 weeks. On that day his blog was updated with a post indicating he suspended the hunger strike to "drink a glass of orange juice". Apparently, his heath has spiraled downward from going without food for so long. His current status is unknown because that was the last time he posted on his blog and there have been know media stories on him in a long time.

I have deep respect for Bhat's desire to make a difference and his willingness to take a moral stand. However, I can't help but wonder if his hunger strike will accomplish nothing more than him quitting or worse yet dying without change. He does not seem to understand that moral conviction and a willingness to put your life on the line is not enough. While true change can occur through such courageous acts, the act alone is never enough. To prevail, the act must be used as a vehicle to bring relentless, continuing, and unending public media attention to the situation. Bhat has failed to grasp this point. His blog is rarely updated and he does not appear to know how to generate ongoing media attention. Hopefully, he will figure this out before it is too late.