P.E.I. pharmacists to be able to prescribe

Prince Edward Island pharmacists will soon be given the authority to write prescriptions for their customers.

'We're wondering how is it possible for a pharmacist to determine whether a patient is stable.' — Dr. Bill Scantlebury

Changes to provincial legislation allowing pharmacists to renew some prescriptions are expected to be passed next month in the legislature.

Currently, when a prescription runs out and a person doesn't have a refill from the doctor, P.E.I. pharmacists can't do much except provide a few pills to tide the person over. The new legislation will change that.

"This is not prescribing something new; we are not diagnosing anything," Neala Auld, registrar of the P.E.I. Pharmacy Board, told CBC News Thursday.

Allowing pharmacists to renew some prescriptions will be a great convenience for patients, said Auld, particularly those without a family doctor.

"It puts patients in a very difficult position having to get a new prescription and wait maybe two or three hours in outpatients for something that easily could be addressed at the pharmacy level," she said.

The P.E.I. Medical Society says while it may seem like a good idea in theory, doctors wish they had been consulted first.

"We're wondering how is it possible for a pharmacist to determine whether a patient is stable on the medication," said society president Dr. Bill Scantlebury.

"Some drugs you need to monitor people with lab work to check their liver and their kidneys and whatnot looking for side-effects, so we're a bit concerned in terms of how are they going to monitor it."

Details of the new legislation are still being worked out. Pharmacists say their prescriptions would only cover a limited time, and the law would not allow for the prescribing of narcotics or tranquilizers.

New Brunswick and Alberta already allow pharmacists limited prescribing powers, and other provinces are considering it.