History of Pharmacy and Compounding: ERICA L. NOREY Duty to Fill? Threats to Pharmacists’ Professional and Business Discretion

I. INTRODUCTION
Although the origin of the word pharmacy is often attributed to the Greek
pharmakon, meaning remedy,1 the art of combining and compounding agents
existed long before the word came into use.2 Despite the many changes pharmacy
practice has gone through in its long history, the majority of which have occurred
within the last fifty years,3 those in the profession consider it an intensely personal
calling that is guided by basic human values and compassion.4 The role of
the modern-day pharmacist is not that of a mere dispenser of legal medication5—
that categorization undermines the pharmacist’s important role in the clinical
process.6

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