The Bolam test

摘要

I disagree with Cathal Gallagher regarding the consequences of the General Pharmaceutical Council not providing guidance on the law (PJ, 10 November 2012, p524).There is an ancient concept that ignorance of the law does not provide a defence and is often referred to in the context of the criminal law. The principle applies just as much to a pharmacist as to anyone else. What Dr Gallgher refers to as the Bolitho test is actually the Bolam test, from the case of Bolam vs Friern Hospital Management Committee (1957) 1 WLR 582. The case of Bolitho vs City and Hackney Health Authority (1998) AC 232 is an exception to the Bolam test, when a particular practice cannot be defended on a logical basis. In the main the Bolam test applies to civil law such as negligence and would not provide a defence to a charge (criminal or professional regulatory) of erroneously supplying a Controlled Drug.