To Prescribe or not Prescribe that is the Question!

Abstract

To prescribe or not prescribed that is the question. If William Shakespeare was a pharmacist and living today he could probably ask his fellow pharmacists this question. To put it another way, should pharmacists be allowed to extend number of refills without prior authorization from the prescriber or even initiate new prescription?  In Ontario, Canada, a new bill was proposed to allow pharmacists to extend refills on prescriptions without first checking it with the original prescriber of the prescription. In New Brunswick, Canada, they were moving in the direction of allowing pharmacists to diagnose and prescribe for minor illnesses. In the last five years, seven out of ten Canadian provinces now allow pharmacists to prescribe in some fashion that include extending refills on an existing prescription or allowing them to initiate a new prescription. As one can see that the precedent has already set where pharmacists are allowed to extend refills on prescriptions without first checking it with prescribers. As one can imagine, this is rather controversial as some of the medical associations fear that this would set a wrong precedent while some physicians, albeit at individual level, are welcoming it both in Canada and the United States. The US Department of Veterans Affairs and some of the other Public Health Agencies’ pharmacists have long been extending refills on prescriptions. As a matter of fact, the VA pharmacists were recently authorized to initiate new prescriptions as mid-level practitioners. In Florida, the pharmacists have been prescribing from a limited formulary list of medications for many years now.