Legal implications of the pharmacist's expanded clinical roles: a challenge to the clinical pharmacist's competencies.

Various sources have put forward the pharmacist as a clinician in addition to traditional functions. These expanded duties have been described as being beneficial to the health care system. This paper describes a project involving the clinical judgment and expertise of the doctor of pharmacy. The project validity and the competency of the doctor of pharmacy program(s) were challenged in the federal courts. The ruling in the case suggests a legal challenge to the pharmacist's clinical function(s).