N.B. pharmacists set to write refill prescriptions

It's about to get a little easier for New Brunswickers to renew some prescriptions.

As of Oct. 30, New Brunswick residents won’t have to see their family doctor every time they need a refill for most drugs. Instead, they can just call their pharmacist.

Amendments to the province’s Pharmacy Act were passed this year giving pharmacists more direct involvement in health care.

The only exceptions to the new rule are prescriptions for narcotics and tranquillizers, which must still get the OK by a doctor.

Jeannie Collins Beaudin, who runs the Guardian pharmacy in Keswick, said the change will make it much easier for people to renew their prescriptions immediately, instead of having to wait for a doctor’s appointment.

"It’s really a patient safety issue. It’s not healthy for people to go without their medication. So, very much from a patient safety point of view, people with chronic conditions, heart conditions, thyroid, those types of things, can carry on their medication until they’re able to see their doctor," she said.

Darren Best welcomes the ability to get medication for a back problem renewed at the pharmacy when he can’t get in to see his doctor.

"I do take some back pills. I need that prescription, and when I am on the road a lot of the time, it’s impossible for me to see the doctor. So, it’s a definite, definite benefit," he said.

New Brunswick and Alberta are the only two provinces that have passed legislation allowing pharmacists to renew prescriptions.

Government and pharmacists said the measures are needed because of the demands on the health-care system. Renewing prescriptions is just the start to ease the strain; other tasks will also be taken on by pharmacists.

"The prescribing of non-medication things like, for example, diabetic supplies," Beaudin said. "Right now, in order to get that on your drug program, you would have to get a new prescription from the doctor every year."

There will be a fee for the service; the amount has not been determined yet. But the prescriptions written by pharmacists will be covered by medical plans.